RIO DE JANEIRO, May 28 (Xinhua) -- As a nationwide strike by Brazilian truckers against diesel price hikes enters the second week, chaos continues to cripple key sectors of the Latin America's largest economy.
President Michel Temer on late Sunday has announced concessions worth 2.5 billion U.S. dollars to truck drivers, who have been keeping products from reaching supermarkets and gas stations, with over 500 blockade points on roadways across the country.
In other hundreds of highways all over the country, state government sent police and armed forces to escort trucks carrying fuel to major cities, as gas stations and airports ran out of fuel.
But the process is slow. Several airports continued to suspend all flights due to a lack of fuel. By Monday evening, 10 of them were still short of fuel, the state-owned airport company Infraero said.
Urban transportation was paralyzed in most major cities. Reduced number of buses on the streets caused much delay and made it harder for people to commute to work. In several states, classes in public schools and universities were suspended.
Consumers also had difficulties finding fresh products in supermarkets and restaurants. Several sellers increased prices significantly to take advantage of the food shortage. In a number of cities, the prices of normally cheap and easy to find products like tomatoes and potatoes skyrocketed.
The economic losses caused by the strike across Brazil since Monday have already exceeded 10.2 billion reais (2.8 billion U.S. dollars), according to initial estimates from various sectors published on Sunday by the daily Folha de Sao Paulo.
