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Article

2 Oct 2007

Author:
Canadian Press

Harsh working conditions mark production of Brazilian ethanol

Brazil's pioneering use of sugarcane-based ethanol...has made Latin America's largest country a global leader in alternative energy. Getting less attention is the squalid labour conditions of nearly half a million people who toil in the fields six days a week to supply the cane...while dozens of sugar mills have been fined for violating labour laws...the Labor Ministry lacks the resources to solve the problem...[T]he [govt.] unit [charged with freeing workers from debt slavery] shut down last month protesting "political interference" after legislators challenged its raid on Para Pastoril e Agricola SA, a leading ethanol producer…The company has denied abusing workers. It was slapped with a $1.1 million fine and its directors charged with "submitting workers to conditions analogous to slavery."