Since the 21st of May truck drivers have been protesting the rise of diesel prices. After Petrobras, the country's main oil company, elevated the prices, truckers decided to not be pushed around anymore and take a stand.
The law 13.103 / 2015 had already worsened truck driver's working conditions by far. Instead of having to work 8 hours, they had to work 12 or longer until "the vehicle arrived to its destination or a safe place". Increasing the diesel price was the last straw.
Truck drivers set up blockades in numerous highways inside the country. At first they started blocking roads partially, but soon enough many important highways were completely occupied with parked trucks. Problems started to show one after the other, the situation becoming more dire by the hour. Oil reserves started to run dry in many parts of the country, then flights started to be canceled due to the lack of fuel, later medication and food started to become scarce, hospitals and ambulance services were not able to function properly and classes were suspended in both universities and schools. This led to a state of emergency being declared on 4 big cities.
The Brazilian government in its oppressive fashion decided to send in armed police forces to clear the roads and secure oil deliveries. These were supposed to clear the roads "by force, if necessary". The Brazilian state moved in with its forces, but found its favorite weapon crushed like a fly against the power of the people. And now the Brazilian ate started to despair.
Out of frustration the government decided to back down and give in to the truck driver's demands, see the blockade over, to go back to usual business, making profit.
If the Brazilian state thought that would suffice, they could have not been more wrong. While some truck drivers left the blockades, the protests expanded and took on more issues, focusing mainly on corruption. The blockades didn't just continue, hundreds of workers (most of them not truck drivers) occupied a refinery in Rio de Janeiro to protest against the government. The protest then spread to oil workers, who plan on making a strike on their own, while many masses keep joining the protests.
The parasitic bourgeois state driven into a corner desperately tries to control the problem it has created. Unable to control the fire it has fed, it's starting to feel the burn as it's consumed by the flames.
