São Luís, January 9, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The state of Maranhão is the national slave labor champion, according to the president of the Açailândia Center for the Defense of Life and Human Rights, Carmem Bacaran. Last year alone, over 700 workers were freed after formal accusations were filed with the Ministry of Labor.

A group of inspectors from the Ministry are expected to arrive in the next few days to investigate accusations of slave labor in three charcoal works and a farm in the municipality. Maranhão also exports slave labor to other states, according to Bacaran. In Pará, for example, around 43% of the workers submitted to such conditions come from Maranhão.

Created seven years ago, the Center for the Defense of Life and Human Rights is a non-governmental organization that works to combat slave labor. The Center is also gathering data on the existence of the problem in charcoal works situated in the Tocantina region. (DAS)