U.S. firms reap fruits of Brazil slave labor

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Sun, Sep. 05, 2004

U.S. firms reap fruits of Brazil slave labor

From corned beef to wooden flooring, cheap U.S. goods made from Brazilian raw materials often come from enslaved workers near the Amazon.

BY KEVIN G. HALL
Knight Ridder Newspapers


MARABA, Brazil - Jose Silva came to the Macauba Ranch in Brazil's eastern Amazon hoping to earn a few hundred dollars clearing jungle.

Two years later, he was $800 in debt and terrified that if he tried to leave the ranch, Gilmar the field boss would pull out his .38-caliber revolver and kill him.

"I would cry alone at night in my hammock and ask God to help me escape. I felt like a slave," he told Knight Ridder.

Silva was a modern slave, working with 46 other men and a boy to clear jungle with machetes, chain saws and tractors from sunup to sundown in the tropical heat, seven days a week, for no money.

He and the others got one meal a day of rice, beans and a little chicken or beef, which they were made to eat standing up to discourage resting. There were no toilets or latrines at the workers' camp, only bushes.
(snip/...)

http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/news/nation/9586642.htm

[Nambe]

1. From the lead, I thought they weren't going to mention the rape...

of their natural resources. I guess we all know the story.

[UpInArms]

2. kick

:kick:

[dumpster_baby]

3. This is the state to which they want to return America

It used to be this way everywhere.

[struggle4progress]

4. Behold the "ownership society." eom