Ambassador Denies that Brazil Has Ethanol Slaves

The ambassador of Brazil in Great Britain, Jose Mauricio Bustani, in a letter published this Saturday in the British newspaper The Guardian, refutes a story that appeared in the publication on March 9 charging that Brazil is using slaves in its sugar cane plantations.

The report made in Palmares Paulista, in the interior of Sao Paulo state, accuses the Brazilian ethanol industry of counting on an army of poor migrants.
For Brazilian ambassador Bustani the article’s headline – “Ethanol slaves” – is deceiving because the ethanol production in Brazil, according to him, is not based in slavery. Workers are free to come and go, says the diplomat, adding that in Sao Paulo, 90% of the sugar cane cutters have their worker rights guaranteed by the state.

The Ambassador’s letter in its entirety:

Brazzil Magazine