BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will meet by videoconference on Thursday with truckers leading blockades of highways in some 15 states, the Infrastructure Ministry said on social media, raising hopes he could end protests threatening export routes.

       Stirred up by the president's call to action at Tuesday political rallies, the trucker protests had partially blocked highways in a half dozen states early on Wednesday, but gained steam as Bolsonaro was hesitant to publicly denounce them.

       (Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Carolina Mandl in Sao Paulo; Editing by Brad Haynes)