Brazil govt orders troops to clear strikers' blockades
Brazil's government raised the stakes in its tense standoff with striking truckers Friday, ordering troops onto the streets to clear huge blockades that have left much of the country paralyzed.
The country's economic capital of Sao Paulo declared a state of emergency, the auto industry shut down, gas stations ran out of fuel and dozens of flights were canceled on the fifth day of the protest Friday.
The truckers have attempted to put a stranglehold on movement of goods in Brazil to protest fuel price rises.
They blocked main roads in much of the vast South American country that has only limited rail services and where 60 percent of goods are transported by road.
The truckers pressed on with the strike despite an agreement announced by the government with union representatives late Thursday to call a 15-day suspension.
President Michel Temer announced in a televised address Friday that he had "mobilized the security forces" to clear the roads -- a move criticized by Amnesty International as "impermissible."
"We are not going to permit that the population does not have access to essential goods... that hospitals do not have the necessary medicines to save lives," he said in a televised address.
"We accepted the 12 main demands of the truckers, who agreed to immediately end the blockades. Unfortunately, a radical minority continues to block the roads."
Defense Minister Joaquim Silva e Luna vowed the army "will act in a rapid, coordinated and robust manner... to free traffic in the critical areas" such as at refineries and airports.
In a joint statement, the leaders of the main unions slammed "the government's decision to use the army as an instrument of repression" and "try to use gasoline to put out a fire."
But the Abcam union, which represents some 700,000 truckers, called on its members to withdraw the blockades, voicing "concern for the safety of the drivers."
In a press conference later Friday, public security minister Raul Jungmann said 45 percent of the blockades had been cleared, but over 500 remained.
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