Brazilian President slammed for calling ethanol producers ‘heroes’

Brazil’s booming alternative ethanol fuel industry is attracting praise and investment from around the world, but President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was roundly criticized at home Wednesday for calling well-off ethanol producers “national and world heroes.”

Less than two weeks after Silva forged an ethanol “alliance” with U.S. President George W. Bush, activists said they were upset that Brazil’s first working-class leader appeared to praise producers they blame for pocketing huge profits while legions of cane-cutting farm workers stay poor.
“His statement was uncalled for, an aberration considering the exploitation of the labor force that we see on the cane plantations,” said Dirceu Fumagalli, national coordinator of the Catholic Church’s Land Pastoral group that helps farm workers. “Ethanol is competitive today only because of the meager pay given to workers.”

“The cane producers represent a monoculture sector that doesn’t create jobs and doesn’t spread wealth, it concentrates it in the hands of a few,” said Vanderlei Martini, who heads a state chapter of the radical Landless Rural Workers Movement. “And the few jobs they create offer precarious conditions, they are promoting slave labor.”

And as Silva spoke, Brazil’s Labor Ministry accused the owner of a cane field in Sao Paulo state of labor violations, saying workers were not given proper safety equipment, drinkable water and bathrooms as they cut tons of cane daily under the hot sun, according to the Folha de S. Paulo, Brazil’s largest newspaper. At least 17 workers have died since 2004 on cane plantations, the newspaper said.

Labor Minister Luiz Marinho warned Brazilian ethanol producers to take notice “because any negative repercussion can lead to exporting restrictions,” the Agencia Estado news service reported.

International Herald Tribune