SANTIAGO, Nov 11 — Truck drivers across Chile staged strikes and blockades on Tuesday to protest sustained fuel price increases linked to global geopolitical volatility, disrupting traffic along the country's key north-south highway and access to ports including Iquique, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters

Hundreds of bus and lorry drivers were still blocking major highway routes across the country on Wednesday, the BBC reported, in a stoppage that began on Tuesday with drivers gathering in convoys to slow and halt traffic on major routes.

The stoppage was called by Chile's Confederación de Transportistas Fuerza del Norte and the No+TAG movement, which expected to gather around 4,000 truckers. The sector's two largest associations declined to join the action, Reuters said.

What the truckers are demanding

Protesters are demanding government measures to contain fuel prices, changes to the MEPCO fuel-price stabilization mechanism, and modifications to the tax burden on truckers, Reuters reported. Organisers have also sought a review of tolls and road charges.

74%rise in the average price of diesel since March, according to industry groups
~4,000truckers the organisers expected to join the stoppage
20 pesosproposed cap on weekly fuel price rises per litre (about $0.02)

Industry groups say the average price of diesel has risen 74 percent since March. Drivers say the increases are being driven up by the war in Iran and wider geopolitical volatility, which has pushed up fuel costs far beyond South America as well.

Government response

The government said on Monday it would seek to use fiscal savings to support the MEPCO stabilization mechanism, and that it plans to send a bill to prevent weekly fuel price increases of more than 20 pesos (about $0.02) per litre, Reuters reported. One US dollar equals about 967 Chilean pesos.

Economy Minister Daniel Mas called for further dialogue, but warned that 'at some point, we will have to clear the highways'. The government of President José Antonio Kast has faced public discontent over fuel prices for months.

Talks between government officials and protest leaders have so far failed to reach a resolution, with another meeting expected to take place on Wednesday. A cruise ship cancelled a planned stop at Iquique because of the potential impact of the protests, according to the Diario Financiero newspaper cited by Reuters.

Why it matters beyond Chile

The blockade is another sign of how the Iran war's fuel shock is travelling around the world: when diesel jumps, truckers — the backbone of food and goods delivery — feel it first, from Chile's highways to routes in Canada and India.