Brasília - On Wednesday (25), the mobile inspection unit of the Regional Labor Office (DRT)freed 50 rural laborers held under slave-like conditions on the Mandacaru estate, in the state of Pará. Among those rescued was a 12 year-old boy. The workers were discovered in deplorable conditions and without safety gear. According to the DRT of Pará, their housing was inadequate, and they lacked drinking water and clean bathrooms. Moreover, they were prohibited from leaving the estate until they paid off all their debts for equipment, food, and medicines.

The proprietor will be required to pay an indemnity and will be tried in federal court. The Federal Police and the Public Interest Defense Ministry will join in the prosecution of the case. 1,051 workers have been freed this year, nearly half of them in the state of Pará.

Another 31 workers were also freed Wednesday on the Santa Teresa estate, in the municipality of Arapoema, in the state of Tocantins. According to the coordinator of the group, the auditor Fausto Rosas, the workers were subjected to slave-like conditions and were barred from leaving the estate.

Among the 31 workers who were liberated, there was a 16 year-old who toiled together with the others clearing pastureland.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Luciana Vasconcelos
Translator: David Silberstein
08/27/2004