RIO DE JANEIRO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- A truck strike in Brazil has entered its third day on Wednesday, affecting food and fuel supply nationwide, local press reported.
Truckers are protesting rising fuel prices, which forced the airport in capital Brasilia to ban aircraft requiring refueling, and blocked highways.
In several states, there was a shortage of food produce in the markets. In Rio de Janeiro, the price of potatoes increased tenfold in the city's main distribution market.
Road blocks have been erected in at least 17 of the 27 states, the Federal Highway Police said.
According to local news site G1, 129 meat packers in Brazil suspended their operations for the time being, due to the impossibility of transporting products to distribution sites.
Producers in southern Brazil have discarded several thousand liters of milk due to the difficulty in transporting the product through highways, Local TV station Globo reported
Brazil's President Michel Temer urged a truce amid the truck drivers' strike. The government approved a cut on one of the taxes over diesel fuel earlier on Wednesday, but the Truck Drivers' Associations considered the measure insufficient.
