Brazilian drivers protest virus lockdown restrictions

Hundreds of people denouncing pandemic lockdown measures opposed by President Jair Bolsonaro snarled traffic in major Brazilian cities.

Protesters in trucks, cars and motorcycles, some wrapped in the country's green and yellow flag, honked horns in the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and the capital of Brasilia on Saturday, calling for governors to resign over measures that have forced most businesses to close for weeks.

Bolsonaro has been a fierce critic of the states' stay-at-home measures, arguing that the economic harm could be more damaging than the illness. The protests took place a day after Bolsonaro fired his health minister, who had been promoting isolation measures.

In Rio de Janeiro, about 100 vehicles took part in the gridlock, cruising down Atlantica Avenue, along the iconic and temporarily shut-down Copacabana beach.

"Either we just have the pandemic, which is already a lot, or we have the pandemic and chaos," said Anderson Moraes, a state lawmaker who had called ..