Anyone else in Brazil? How are things now on day #6

[LinoleumBlownapart]

I'm 110% behind the truck drivers but our town ran out of fuel 3 days ago, most of the schools were closed yesterday, only the munciple and private ones stayed open, but none of the school buses were running.
I did a huge shop yesterday for things we can't get locally. We're fine for fruit, veg and dairy but other things like washing powder are in decline already. Most of the local farmers had to release the milk from the tanks to make room.

What will June bring?

Just me then

I'm a nowhere near Brazil (Melbourne, Australia) but didn't want to read and not respond.

What's happening to cause such disruption? Strikes?

I hadn't heard about this either.

Tell us more as not heard about it

Again, I an nowhere near Brazil, but interested.

The descriptions of city life in Manaus in the Anne Patchett book State of Wonder are absolutely amazing though I have no idea how accurate they are but I can derive from them that living through a strike there must be very very different to how it works be in the uk. Highly recommend the book.

Tell us more OP, I haven’t heard either.

I'm no expert but the lorry drivers have been on strike for 10 days now. The fuel prices went up dramatically. All in tax into government pockets. People are angry because this seems to be way to start putting back money that we stolen through corruption. A military police truck bought fuel yesterday and this morning the queue for the petrol station stretched back at least 1 mile, if not more. People are getting worried because food is not getting through now, all the cows in our region are grass fed and most chickens are free range so plenty of bugs to keep them going and we have reserves of corn but other regions that have larger industrial scale farming are going to see problems in the next few days, without livestock feed. People are starting to get worried that we might have wide scale animal starvation on our hands if the negotiations don't end soon. I think people in big cities are struggling more, we can walk and have plenty of food. They don't. There's a few mumsnetters in Brazil are all in cities.
We cooked yesterday on the wood fire as there's no more gas coming in. It's not piped gas so once it's gone, it's gone. The water company as well, were saying that the supplies of treatment chemicals are running low, that's probably the most concerning thing at the moment. The only things coming through are medicines for the hospitals thank god. It's starting to feel like we're going towards Venezuela on a run away train. DH is supposed to be going to Argentina next week but it's looking likely than even flights are going to be grounded .

What a terrible situation OP. As you were explaining Venezuela came to mind, then you mentioned it.
They've pushed people too far, like you say corruption and greed.
I hope there's a resolution soon.

I think I've been waiting for the shit to hit the fan for a while, a former president ending up in jail would never end well. Now there's more strikes on the horizon. Social media has made the average Brazilian aware of how rich their country actually is and how much they suffer as a result of corruption and greed. I think Venezuela may be a long way off but it's amazing how quickly your bubble can pop when things don't run smoothly. Two weeks ago we didn't really have to worry about anything, how fast that changes. DHL grew up in the Brazil of 70's and 80's so I do wonder if he's a little tougher than I am with situationsome. My teen DS and his friends jokingly said it's like Mad Max. I hope it stays as a joke!

Wow OP, this is horrendous to read. Is there any murmurs of negotiations being met or some kind of resolution?

What information is being broadcast from the news where you are?

Have you measures in place to provide for your family if the situation gets worse - bottled water, tinned food etc etc?

wow, op. that actually sounds slightly scary.
and even more scary that this is not picked up in the news in europe.

I do hope that you keep having a good phone signal & internet enough supplies to get you through and that it's resolved before it's really serious for many.

www.reuters.com/news/archive/brazil

I follow Sky News and there's no mention of what is happening. Why not I wonder?

It was/is the same with Venezuela, no mention.
Not on the powers that be agenda I suppose.

Bumping this into active conversation to raise awareness. Also had no idea.

This article estimates 70 million chickens have starved to death already

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-latin-america-44285238

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-44285238

I found a BBC article but I had to hunt.

I’m sorry this is happening to you OP, it sounds very scary.

It looks like the negotiations have worked but now the gas companies are on strike. It's interesting that they're saying the lorry drivers are defying the attempts to bring the army in. One of the army leaders, I think he was in the navy said that Brazilians have spent 30+ learning to trust and respect the military. Using the military to fight drug trafficking is one thing, but pitting them against hardworking people is a completely different ball game. The military leaders are against bringing in the military, not just the people. The government shot themselves in the foot with that one.

Many people are against Temer personally, I think it doesn't matter who is in charge anymore, they're all the same. Temer just inherited the mess, at least he's intelligent, if it wasn't him but someone who had no clue about politics then Brazil would be in a much worse state already.
It's been on the news a lot about the chickens I didn't know the actual figure but it shows how fast things can crash. Industrial farms are heavily reliant on imported feed. Barn chickens and worse are not able to find food, they're too closely packed together and have no access to outside. I've seen videos of people freeing and distributing caged and barn chickens around small towns and villages, in people's back yards they can at least survive. My neighbours chickens are still thriving. Ours are as fat as ever
We are OK for food but I went to the supermarket yesterday and the shelves are empty of things like canned and packaged goods. It's a wake up call, I do wonder how easily and quickly one crisis can shake up your world. Today is a holiday and despite everything everyone is peaceful and in true Brazilian style, very optimistic.

Long ay the peace and optimism continue.

Have there been any developments since your post?

Things have settled down. But everyone is being careful and waiting for the next strike.
One cute little kid has gone viral by begging the nation to keep up the strikes so that the school buses won't have any fuel and he can stay home permanently

I hope you are alright OP. I've got family over there heard all about the strikes, supermarket shortage, etc. Sorry to derail but I am fascinated by foreigners who move to Brazil especially not big cities eg Sao Paolo and Rio. Probably because I refused to move back when my family did and don't see the appeal of living there except for holidays & family but can I ask why you moved there?

Change of scenery. Children needed to become fluent and literate in Portuguese. Good weather. Healthier lifestyle, no processed food. More time, children only in school half the day. Longer days, people still out and about at 10pm with their families. Freedom for kids to just be outside playing with other children or going off on their bikes or horses and learning about nature rather than me having to take them to lots of structured activities.

There's loads of downsides too. The mentality can be annoying, the malandro type mentality. The morbid obsessions with misfortune and sometimes I'd love to just go buy cheap clothes or toys, eat crap fast food and not have to spend a fortune just to have a normal life.

I wish I had seen this thread two weeks ago, OP. I'm Brazilian and while things didn't get bad for us (my family lacked for nothing) I was worried.

Bloody hell, I've given up on my country by now. My university is in shambles because of all the cuts the thrice damned "president" announced. Many friends had to give up their hard earned places because they couldn't support themselves without the financial aid.

Some students from my university are now at risk of being arrested for protesting against a raise of 122% in our restaurant.

Because of all that, I gotta say I disagree with your opinion that Temer is intelligent. He's got rock bottom and continues digging.

Mumsnetters, would it be of interest if I created a thread highlighting all the issues my country is facing?

They are all as bad as each other, I guess because I'm not Brazilian so I don't really feel love or hatred for any politicians. I just look at their political skills and feel that it is slightly better to have educated politicians than people who might be in touch with the people but couldn't navigate a dingy through a puddle, let alone a country through a crisis.

The money will be sucked from people that it shouldn't be sucked from. Like hospitals, schools, universities, families. This is the sad reality. I work in a Federal institute, but just a small campus with a few courses and I teach ensino médio, so I don't know how the university students are being affected.

I think it would be interesting to hear your take on things, my husband and my colleagues don't really have much to say other than they hate it all.