The aftermath of the strike in a mutilated country.

The truckers' strike lasted 10 days, spread throughout the country, and mobilized a large part of the nation. After the federal government's commitment to reduce the price of diesel and meet other demands of the category, the mobilization gradually ended. The category's demands, however, are still being disputed, and the whole process not only caused, but also exposed some serious wounds.

The first wounds are political and economic, and they are still bleeding – the fragility of the Temer government, laid bare by the fall of the president of Petrobras, Pedro Parente, and by criticism of the pricing policy for petroleum derivatives in the country, tied to the international market and subject to variations in the price of the dollar and a barrel of oil. Another injury that did not go unnoticed was in the sphere of communication: the influence of traditional media on politics and people's lives, as well as the role of social media, are not minor details.

Between testimonies from reserve military personnel, videos shared in family WhatsApp groups, and William Bonner's "goodnight," it became difficult for the vast majority of the population to differentiate news from rumors. Hyperinformation misinforms to such an extent that the population has still not been able to decipher the demonstrations: Strike or lockout? Was there political interference with an electoral slant? Regardless of the answers, the costs of the concessions, as they were made, will fall on the shoulders of the people.

There is also a social injury: the evident lack of identity among citizens of the most diverse classes and the intensification of political polarization that has taken over the country since 2013. But the mutilation that I will address in more depth in this article is infrastructural – it is a historical and intentional negligence in the management of waterway and rail transport systems, causing a criminal dependence of the country on the road model, both at the federal and state levels – those responsible have names, parties, and political projects.

In São Paulo, for example, the railway network dates back to the late 19th century, driven by coffee production. Until the early 1970s, the state government controlled the Mogiana and Sorocabana companies; the São Paulo-Minas railway; and the Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro, which together formed FEPASA, with thousands of kilometers of railways for freight and passenger transport. From 1996 onwards, with Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Mario Covas, both members of the PSDB party, in the presidency and government of the state, a more radical process of federalization and privatization of São Paulo's railways began, which today serve only corporate interests.

The neglect shown by the PSDB party towards São Paulo's railways continued under Geraldo Alckmin's administration, evident both in the Metro, which still hasn't left the capital, and in the CPTM (São Paulo Metropolitan Train Company), which is progressing at a snail's pace. Added to this are the constant system failures and accusations of fraud. The State needs to reclaim responsibility for a sector that is strategic for the country's development; expand this network and democratize access. The same applies to waterway transport, which would be an option if there were political will. However, the concession models adopted and the lack of diversity in transport modes have created a kind of monopoly in the road system – which is more expensive, polluting, and unsafe.

Under these conditions, it is clear that we need to reduce the burden on truck drivers, but we cannot forget that diversity in transport modes is the only way to achieve full development, generating jobs, prioritizing domestic supply, and increasing the competitiveness of national production in the foreign market.