My task is to translate, photograph, film and get permission to accompany the Brasilian government's Mobile Group on a rescue mission to release men, women and children being forced to work in sub-human conditions...[by] unscrupulous land owners...since 1995, 30,000 slaves have been freed. Sandy and I were given permission to follow a group in Boca do Inferno...a sugar-cane plantation near to Cuiabá (MT)...home to Usina Itamarati, the largest sugar refinery in the country, owned by...Olacyr de Moraes...Slave labour is mainly found on the borders of the deforested Amazon Jungle. This type of work force [is] used...by major landowners and businesses that aim to cut down on production costs...Cattle breeding and the production of soya, cotton and sugarcane are the...biggest culprits...As soon as the workers arrive at the ranch, they're already in debt...Workers spend two, three months, sometimes up to a year, and never earn a penny...500,000 people working on the cane fields...spend hours out in the blazing sun to produce ethanol and sugar...[T]he government's 2nd Plan to Eradicate Slave Labour...aims to...increase the government's "black list" of establishments involved in slave labour, punishing these organizations by preventing them from drawing up new financial contracts with a range of Brasilian state-run banks.
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