A truck drivers strike in Brazil entered its fifth day Friday — a mass protest that has already caused shortages of essential products, left gas stations empty throughout the country, and restricted operations at major airports.
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The trigger for the strike was a new pricing policy from Petrobras, the country's state-owned oil company, to adjust prices daily based on changes in the international price of oil.
Mauro Pimentel / AFP / Getty Images
A depreciation in Brazil's currency, the real, together with increasing oil prices, is driving up fuel costs — angering the drivers, who've begun parking on major highways in protest.
In large cities, there is no fuel at most gas stations. In São Paulo, the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere, public transportation was halved.
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Food shortages are the norm in many of Brazil's markets, with no way for produce to make it to grocery stores.
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Outside the cities, dairy farmers were forced to dump milk that was close to souring because there was no way to deliver it.
On Thursday, the Brazilian government and truck drivers' representatives announced a deal, which included reducing the price of diesel.
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But Friday, in the face of continued strikes, President Michel Temer authorized the use of the armed forces to free roads blocked by truck drivers.
Evaristo Sa / AFP / Getty Images
It's the government playing their ultimate trump card to increase pressure against the strikers — but it's not clear that they'll actually be deployed to force the trucks off the roads, making it anyone's guess when the strike will actually end.
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