(Updated with announcement of a reopening of the bridge this Sunday)
by Kayla Tarnowski and Chris Helgren
WINDSOR, Canada, February 13 (Reuters) – The Ambassador Bridge, one of the main traffic arteries between Canada and the United States which had been blocked for several days by protesters hostile to health restriction measures linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. 19, will reopen this Sunday after being cleared by Canadian police, Washington announced.
“Canadian authorities intend to reopen the Ambassador Bridge today after completing the usual security checks,” White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall said in a statement.
Several protesters were arrested early Sunday morning when the police intervened to evacuate the demonstrators and about 50 vehicles, including buses and even an armored vehicle, in application of a court decision handed down on Friday.
US President Joe Biden had asked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to bring in federal authorities to end the blockade of the bridge, which is the busiest crossing point between their two countries and on which much depends. the supply of spare parts for several large automobile factories in the Detroit area.
Trucks, motorhomes and cars had been preventing traffic in both directions since last Monday.
This blockade was part of the “Freedom Convoy”, a protest movement by truck drivers opposed to the vaccination obligation which also resulted in the blocking of part of Ottawa, the Canadian federal capital.
In Ottawa, residents exasperated by this blockage situation began on Saturday to prevent new vehicles from joining the ranks of protesters and demonstrated to ask the police to intervene.
The movement, which entered its 17th day on Sunday, quickly aggregated very diverse demands, from health restrictions to the carbon tax.
(Reporting by Kayla Tarnowski at Ambassador, with Chris Helgren in Ottawa and David Morgan in Washington, French version Marc Angrand and Tangi Salaün)