Brazil: Four Argentines rescued from slave conditions

In Rio Grande do Sul, four Argentine workers, including a 14-year-old boy, were rescued by authorities after being subjected to slave-like work without drinking water for a company producing firewood for the pulp industry. Originally from the northeastern region of Argentina, two workers arrived in August to work as loggers while two others arrived in March but never received a salary, with the promise that they would be paid at the end of the work. Installed in the area of Nova Petrópolis, their camp consisted of several canvas tents, had no drinking water or electricity and cooked on top of some stones. The Military Brigade’s investigation began when they received a complaint about workers abandoned by their employers in rural property, without resources to survive. After rescuing the Argentines, police detained a man who remains at the Federal Police headquarters in Caxías do Sul accused of “reduction to servitude.” On the workers’ side, having entered Brazil illegally, the four must return to Argentina after the employers deposit the money owed. 

Original source in Spanish