Brazil's Temer orders security forces to remove trucker blockades

BRASÍLIA: Brazilian President Michel Temer ordered security forces Friday to clear roads blocked by truckers staging a five-day-old strike that has left the country virtually paralyzed.

"The government has had the courage to dialogue, the government will have the courage to exert its authority," he said in a televised address.

The truckers pressed on with the strike Friday, despite a deal between the government and unions late Thursday to suspend the protest for 15 days.