US embassy cable - 05BRASILIA1680

UNCLAS BRASILIA 001680 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, SOCI, BR, Human Rights, 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