Bolsonaro’s Loss Incites Protests, Roadblocks

President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro spoke on Nov. 1 for the first time since his losing of the Oct. 30 election (photo courtesy AP news).

Truck drivers blocked hundreds of roads across Brazil in protest of President Jair Bolsonaro’s loss in the Oct. 30 presidential election. In response, Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered the highway police to immediately clear roads and accused them of “omission and inertia”. Failure to comply will result in the director being fined an equivalent of $19,000 per hour and removed from his duties. By noon Tuesday, 306 blockades had been removed but more than 260 still remain.

Bolsonaro’s loss, with 49.1% of the vote to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s 50.9%, was the closest presidential race since Brazil’s return to democracy in 1985. The small margin of victory has allowed Bolsonaro to easily question the legitimacy of the nation’s election process, resulting in the protests.