JAKARTA - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called on protesters to end the road blockade, saying it interfered with people's rights to move, brought harm to the economy.
The protests began on Sunday, after Bolsonaro narrowly lost to Luiz Inacio CLA da Silva, in the second round presidential election on October 30.
In a video posted on social media, Bolsonaro said he understood the public's frustration over the election results.
"I know you're upset, I'm upset too. But we have to stay upright," he said in a tweet message.
"I will apply to you: clean the highway," he asked to end the blockade.
The president said blocking the road was making ongoing protests invalid. He encourages people to choose other ways to demonstrate.
Bolsonaro added that the Federal Highway Police (PRF) had been deployed to help dispel protesters and clear roads. But he said they were overwhelmed by protests taking place in many locations.
"The difficulty is enormous," he continued.
Meanwhile, Brazilian authorities said they were making progress in their efforts to clear the blockade set up across the country by truck drivers.
PRF said protesters blocked the highway in part or entirely at 126 locations on Wednesday night, less than about 190 the night before.
Although smaller than the previous days, demonstrations still have the potential to disrupt the distribution of fuel, industrial activities, food delivery to supermarkets and delivery of grains to ports.
Meanwhile, Anvisa, the national health agency, warned that the blockade could cause a shortage of medical supplies.
Police said 732 roadblocks had been cleared across the country, although roads remained blocked or partially blocked in 14 of Brazil's 26 states, mainly in agricultural states such as Santa Catarina and Mato Grosso, where Bolsonaro has strong popular support.
In a speech on Tuesday, the Brazilian president said the protests resulted from "angry and a sense of injustice" over the vote. However, he stopped explicitly asking his supporters to remove the blockade.
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