Cablegate: Brazil: Gob Labor Task Force Lands Major Bust
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS BRASILIA 001680
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SOCI BR TIP
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: GOB LABOR TASK FORCE LANDS MAJOR BUST
1. (U) SUMMARY. On June 15 a Brazilian Labor Ministry task
force made its largest bust to date, freeing approximately
1,200 slave laborers working at an ethanol refinery in Mato
Grosso state. The GOB sanctioned the refinery for labor
violations previously, and as a result, ethically conscious
companies refused to conduct business with it. Declining
sales led the refinery's owner to solicit intervention from
politicians. Despite the refinery's poor human rights
record, Chamber of Deputies President Severino Cavalcanti
lobbied on its behalf. END SUMMARY.
2. (U) On June 15, the Brazilian Labor Ministry's Mobile
Inspection Group, a labor standard enforcement division,
released some 1,200 forced laborers at the Gameleira
Distillery in Mato Grosso state. According to Humberto
Pereira, the task force's coordinator, the slave laborers
were held as indentured servants under extreme conditions.
The Brazilian Carta Maior News Agency reports that distillery
owners promised adequate pay, unemployment insurance, and
other benefits to laborers during the hiring process.
Workers also told GOB inspectors that their wages were
withheld to pay for inflated expenses such as advanced travel
costs and medical treatment. In addition, workers said that
they were not fed properly and lived in unsanitary
conditions.
3. (U) The Gameleira Distillery has been found negligent of
slave labor in the past, and has previously appeared on the
Labor Ministry's "dirty list." (Note: This blacklist
catalogues companies found guilty of mistreating their
workers. Companies on the list are sanctioned by the GOB and
many companies voluntarily refuse to conduct business with
listees. End note). Last month the distillery won a court
injunction to remove its name from the list. Despite this,
Brazilian fuel distributors such as Ipiranga continue their
boycott of Gameleira. In a vain attempt to remove the stigma
surrounding Gameleira, the distillery's owner, Eduardo
Monteiro, reportedly solicited an additional review by the
Mobile Inspection Group. The Labor Ministry refused, and
last week's raid was initiated following new complaints that
emerged against the distillery.
4. (U) The Gameleira Distillery's owner's brother is
Pernambuco state deputy Armando Monteiro. Through this
political connection, appeals were channeled to influential
Chamber of Deputies' Speaker Severino Cavalcanti. Despite
his clout, Cavalcanti's attempt to lobby on behalf of
Gameleira failed, and even backfired in the media. Although
Cavalcanti himself straddles the fence on human rights
issues, distributors like Ipiranga maintain their ethical
stand against slave labor.
COMMENT: Announcement of the raid on the Gameleira
Distillery is a positive sign. The Mobile Inspection Group
deserves recognition for its hard and dangerous work,
however, there is still much to be done. A commitment of
more resources to this traditionally underfunded and
underequipped task force would considerably help combat
forced labor. Considering the magnitude of this problem, it
is likely that we have only seen the tip of the slave labor
iceberg in Brazil.
DANILOVICH