Outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro late Wednesday asked participants in what he called "legitimate" protests to "unblock the roads" and demonstrate elsewhere, while pushing for military intervention to keep him in power, reports Radio Free Europe.
Supporters of the far-right leader gather in front of military facilities in major Brazilian cities and block highways in more than half of the country's states.
Protesters, unwilling to accept the results of Bolsonaro's election defeat on Sunday to leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, blocked highways and caused disruption across the country for a third straight day.
"I want to make an appeal to them: unblock the roads," Bolsonaro said late Wednesday, adding: "They don't seem like part of a legitimate demonstration to me."
"The other demonstrations taking place across Brazil in the squares... are part of the democratic game. They are welcome," he added in a video address on Twitter.
After several days of silence, Bolsonaro gave a brief speech on Tuesday in which he did not accept defeat or congratulate Lula on his victory over the weekend, although his chief of staff later took the podium to say the president had approved the transition to a new government.
Some supporters of Bolsonaro, himself a retired army captain, made threatening gestures to reporters in Sao Paulo, where crowds of protesters took to the streets later in the day.
In the southern state of Santa Catarina, protesters were filmed on Wednesday giving Nazi salutes.
Meanwhile, thousands of people rallied in the capital Brasilia, chanting "civil resistance", while in the rainy center of Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian media filmed protesters chanting: "Lula, you thief, you belong in jail".
The number of roadblocks nationwide was reduced from 271 on Tuesday to 146 on Wednesday, police said.
In Sao Paulo, military police used tear gas to break up a blockade on the main highway linking the state with the country's central-west region, after the Supreme Federal Court ordered the use of "all necessary measures" to open the roads.
The blockade caused disruption across the country. The main airport in Sao Paulo has canceled 48 flights due to the protests, the press service announced, reports Agence France Presse (AFP).
Bolsonaro's vice president, Hamilton Murao, told O Globo daily that "there's no point in crying, we lost the game."
The national industry confederation warned on Tuesday of an imminent risk of fuel shortages if blocked roads were not cleared quickly.
Infrastructure Minister Marcelo Sampaio demanded late Tuesday that protesters unblock highways to allow the transport of medicine, supplies and fuel.
Many Brazilian supermarkets reportedly already had a shortage of supplies, writes AFP.
Demonstrations calling for military intervention in front of military buildings were held on Wednesday in 11 of the country's 27 states, the UOL news site reports.
Bolsonaro said on Tuesday that protesters should not "use the methods of the left... which prevent freedom of movement", but added that the roadblocks were "the fruit of indignation and a sense of injustice because of the way the electoral process was carried out".
"Peaceful protests will always be welcome," he said.
This was interpreted by some supporters as a call to hold demonstrations.
Electoral institutions earlier declared the victory of former president Luis Iñasio Lula da Silva in the second round of elections, held on October 30. This is Lula's third term as president of Brazil.
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