RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil's President Michel Temer, under pressure from a week-long national truckers' strike which led to fuel and food shortages, ceded to protesters' demands Sunday and slashed the cost of diesel. Authorities deployed the military to clear barricades erected by strikers and have been escorting fuel trucks since Friday to maintain access to refineries. The truckers put a stranglehold on movement of goods in Brazil to protest increases in fuel prices. Service was restored after fuel trucks arrived, but buses were operating at 20 percent capacity on Sunday. The truckers have pressed on with the strike despite an agreement announced by the government with union representatives late Thursday to call a 15-day suspension.

Source: Bangkok Post May 28, 2018 02:37 UTC