Brazil Accused of Getting Biofuel with Slave Labor

In a letter issued after a seminar of the international peasant movement Via Campesina on the growth of the sugarcane industry in Latin America that was held in Sao Paulo last month, representatives of social organizations and movements from Brazil, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic challenged the discourse according to which biofuel is a clean energy that can generate income for rural populations in Brazil.

“The current bioenergy production model is based on the same elements that have always brought oppression to indigenous people: appropriation of territories, of natural goods, of the labor force,” said Via Campesina in the letter, which is called “Full Tanks at the expense of Empty Stomachs.”
On February 28, the president of the Brazilian Caritas, Bishop Demetrio Valentim, recalled problems created by monoculture for workers during a ceremony for launching the book Direitos Humanos no Brasil 2 – Diagnosticos e Perspectivas (Human rights in Brazil 2 – Diagnosis and Prospects).

He mentioned sugarcane plantations as examples of areas where even ensured rights – such as labor rights – can be threatened. “The battle for human rights must be continually supported. A clear example is that of labor rights, which have been ensured already but are threatened. Biofuel, for example, leads to larger sugarcane plantations, where working conditions are similar to the ones experienced during the slavery period,” he said.

Brazzil Magazine