“In the Northwest of Brazil, we had to cancel 2 freighter flights. One from Lusthansa departing from Netal on Sunday 27th, and another one from Cagolux from Petrolina on Monday 28th of May. Each one of these freighters has a capacity around 100 tons of cargo per flight. Just looking at our company, we suffer from big losses due to this strike. Over 400 tons of produce is stuck somewhere, and this is just for this week”, starts Donato from Cargolink Logistic.
He explains that this strike is the result of very high fuel costs. “One liter of gas, cost 5,00 Reais before the strike. Now prices have increased tremendously, because of the shortages at gas stations up to 9,00 Reais per liter. The truckers decided to strike from the 21st of May and it is still on going without any date to stop. I believe it should end soon. The domestic market is missing food and basic commodities. This can´t go on for much longer.”
The empty shelves in supermarkets is also confirmed in the domestic and national press. Also mentioned in many articles is that Brazilian people complain about the corrupt politicians, including president Temer himself. Not many Brazilians are still in favour of Mr. Temer and they scream for help and even ask for military intervention.
It’s the strikes 10th day today, which started as a nationwide truck strike against the fuel. According to an article published in the Guardian, gas stations have finally begun to receive full deliveries and some truckers haves started drifting back to work. José Lopez, leader of the Brazilian Truck Drivers´ Association, warns that this strike movement has been hijacked. “There is a very strong group of interventionists. They are people who want to bring down the government."