By Ana Mano
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – The main access road to Brazil’s Paranagua port, the country’s second busiest for grain exports, remained blocked by political protesters on Tuesday, according to a statement from the port authority, hobbling shipping from one of the world’s top food producers.
Blockades in the area were first reported Monday afternoon after similar demonstrations erupted throughout the country as supporters of outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro protested against his narrow election loss to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Truckers, one of Bolsonaro’s key constituencies, benefited from policies to lower fuel prices and have previously disrupted the Brazilian economy by shutting highways in recent years.
According to the federal highway police on Tuesday morning, protesters were blocking highways partially or fully in more than 200 locations, as part of demonstrators that have spread to 21 of Brazil’s 27 states. They said another 192 roadblocks had been cleared.
Farm states like Santa Catarina, where many meatpackers operate, and Mato Grosso, Brazil’s biggest grain producer, were among the most affected by the protests that started after polls closed on Sunday, police data showed.
The port authority at Santos, Latin America’s biggest port, said things were normal as protests had not disrupted its terrestrial operations, according to a statement sent to Reuters.
Yet due to bad weather, navigation in the port’s estuary has been suspended since 4:00 a.m. (0700 GMT), the statement said.
Rumo, a leading rail company that operates a large grain terminal in Rondonopolis, Mato Grosso, told Reuters blockades have started to affect cargo movement at some sites, highlighting problems in Parana and Santa Catarina.
(Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Alistair Bell)
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