Temer on the ropes: either he lowers prices or he ousts Parente.

The leader of the truck drivers, José da Fonseca Lopes, president of the Brazilian Association of Truck Drivers (Abcam), gave Temer an ultimatum. He told CBN radio a short while ago that the truck drivers' strike will only be suspended if the Senate approves, by 14 pm today, the bill that eliminates the PIS/Cofins tax on diesel until the end of the year.

"If at today's meeting, at 14 pm, Minister Padilha and the participating ministers announce 'it's here, the president signed it,' then the movement is suspended. It's not just diesel that needs PIS/Cofins tax removed. It needs to be removed from all fuels. That's what we expect today."

The statement brings a certain relief and momentarily dispels the dark clouds that form on the horizon whenever the expression "truckers' strike" comes up.

We are immediately reminded of what happened in Chile in September 1973, when a truckers' strike paved the way for the infamous military coup that overthrew the elected socialist president Salvador Allende and installed a bloody dictatorship, with summary executions at the National Stadium in Santiago.

But, as Ricardo Noblat rightly pointed out today on his blog, Temer is not at risk of becoming Allende for two reasons: he wasn't elected, nor is he left-wing.

The truck drivers don't want to overthrow Temer; they are ideologically aligned with him. What they want is to bring down fuel prices. They want an end to the insane pricing policy practiced by Petrobras since Pedro Parente took over the presidency, with practically daily increases that have turned Brazil into the country with the second most expensive gasoline in the world, despite being one of the 20 largest producers.

However, nothing prevents a movement of this magnitude, which threatens to paralyze the country, from spilling over into a political strike, fueled by the heated ideological clash taking place in Brazil.

To respond to the ultimatum, Temer can do two things: either he goes for confrontation, ordering the roads to be unblocked by force, which could provoke unpredictable consequences and more wear and tear, or he gives in to the truckers and lowers fuel prices in addition to Parente's proposal yesterday to cut diesel prices by 10% for 15 days.

The truck drivers have put Temer on the ropes. Either he lowers fuel prices or he ousts Parente.