Lorry drivers backing Bolsonaro block hundreds of roads in election protest

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"111265417"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><p>Brazilian truckers supportive of President Jair Bolsonaro blocked hundreds of roads to protest against his election loss to former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Since the left-wing Mr da Silva’s’s victory on Sunday night&comma; many truck drivers have jammed traffic in areas across the country and said they will not acknowledge Mr Bolsonaro’s defeat&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Bolsonaro has not spoken publicly since official results were released roughly 36 hours ago&comma; nor phoned Mr da Silva to concede&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The highway to and from the international airport in Sao Paulo – Brazil’s most populous state and largest economy – was blocked and dozens of flights were cancelled&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Videos on social media showed travellers rolling their suitcases at night along the highway to the airport&period; Access was partially re-established as of 8am local time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In neighbouring Minas Gerais&comma; a key battleground state in the election&comma; a video on social media showed a protester telling a reporter from O Tempo&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We won’t stop as long as we don’t have a response from our president&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The man wearing a green-and-yellow shirt – the colours of the Brazilian flag and of the nation’s conservative movement – claimed the election was &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;fraudulent” and warned of future protests&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We want Bolsonaro in 2023 and for the years to come&comma;” he said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In 2018&comma; an 11-day lorry drivers’ strike brought Brazil to a halt&comma; caused food prices to spike&comma; and left supermarket shelves without products as petrol stations ran out of fuel&period; It caused billions in losses and revealed the vast power that drivers possess&comma; particularly when they organise through social media platforms&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Bolsonaro&comma; a lawmaker at the time and months away from winning that year’s presidential election&comma; was an outspoken supporter of the truckers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This year&comma; his administration limited interstate fuel taxes to help bring down prices and launched a financial aid programme for truck drivers just ahead of the presidential election campaign&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A majority of Brazilian Supreme Court justices early on Tuesday voted to order the federal highway police to clear the blocked roads immediately&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As of 8am local time on Tuesday&comma; highway police had removed nearly 200 blockades&comma; according to the Ministry of Justice&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>By noon police said they had removed 306 blockades&comma; but more than 260 were still in place&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Federal public prosecutors in Sao Paulo and Goias states said they had opened investigations into the blockades&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr da Silva’s Workers’ Party has accused Mr Bolsonaro’s campaign of deploying the police force to create traffic jams and deter people from voting on election day&comma; when videos of officials stopping buses shot across social media&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The party said the alleged efforts were particularly focused in the north-east region that is a Workers’ Party stronghold&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Bolsonaro lost the race by a thin margin&comma; garnering 49&period;1&percnt; of the vote to Mr da Silva’s 50&period;9&percnt;&period; It was the tightest presidential race since Brazil’s return to democracy over three decades ago&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Much like former US president Donald Trump&comma; whom Mr Bolsonaro openly admires&comma; the far-right incumbent repeatedly questioned the reliability of the country’s electoral system&comma; claiming electronic voting machines are prone to fraud&period; He never provided any proof&comma; even when ordered to do so by the electoral court&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div style&equals;"padding-bottom&colon;15px&semi;" class&equals;"wordads-tag" data-slot-type&equals;"belowpost">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div id&equals;"atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68cd20acb64cd">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<script type&equals;"text&sol;javascript">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &equals; function &lpar;&rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;if &lpar; false &equals;&equals;&equals; &lpar; window&period;isWatlV1 &quest;&quest; false &rpar; &rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&sol;&sol; Use Aditude scripts&period;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;tudeMappings &equals; 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