[Previous entry: "Caribbean tsunami 'a matter of when, not if'"] [Next entry: "Beijingers flock to Africa"]

01/20/2005:

"Shame of slavery blights Brazil's interior"

An estimated 25,000 people are working as slave labourers in Brazil clearing the Amazon jungle for ranchers, or producing pig iron in the forest using charcoal smelters, according to a study.

An unpublished report for the Geneva-based International Labour Organisation (ILO) concludes that despite the best efforts of the government of President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva to free slaves and prosecute offenders the level of lawlessness in the country's interior means that the practice continues.

Full Article : guardian.co.uk