Brazil govt orders troops to clear blockades

BRASíLIA: Brazil’s government raised the stakes in its tense standoff with striking truckers on Friday, ordering troops onto the streets to clear huge blockades that have left much of the country paralysed.

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 cancelled on the fifth day of the protest on 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 "mobilised 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."

Defence 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."