A strike by independent truckers waned in Brazil on Wednesday after the government increased fines for blocking roads, with federally operated highways blocked in only four points, down from some 20 on Tuesday, federal highway police said. The protests were in five Brazilian states, down from 11 on Tuesday, according to the police. Most of the activity was in the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, police said. Brazil’s pork and poultry association warned that roadblocks in the south could affect exports at a critical time, but the protests have not reached top grain-producing state Mato Grosso. Brazil’s main trucking unions are not participating.
