Trucks block the main entrance to President Getulio Vargas oil refinery in Araucaria, Brazil May 25, 2018. REUTERS/Rodolfo Buhrer

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A Brazilian truckers association that says it represents 600,000 drivers called on Friday for drivers who have blockaded roads for five days nationwide to clear their rigs from roadways and allow transportation to begin returning to normal.

Abcam said in a written statement that it still encouraged drivers to protest, but to do so peacefully and without blocking roads. The blockades have crippled several key sectors of Latin America’s biggest economy.

Abcam said it was “lamentable” that President Michel Temer had authorized Brazil’s military to use force if needed to clear roadways, but that given the threat, it urged truckers to open highways.