Picked by slaves: coffee crisis brews in Brazil
DECEMBER 12, 2019 / 5:11 AM / UPDATED 19 HOURS AGO
Fabio Teixeira
16 MIN READ
PATOS DE MINAS, Brazil (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - As the coffee harvest drew to a close in the rolling hills of southeastern Brazil, labor inspectors raced to two sprawling plantations with one goal - to rescue workers from slavery.
The convoy, escorted by armed police, hit the road one August morning in Minas Gerais - a state bigger than France - that grows more than half the beans in Brazil, the world’s top coffee exporter.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation joined officials on a high-speed chase over fields, searching for coffee bean pickers crouched amid countless rows of lush trees.
The inspectors knew they had to act fast as supervisors running plantations were known to order workers to flee at the first sight of authorities, using WhatsApp to issue warnings.
By sunset, they had raided both plantations and found 59 workers - including children aged 13 - all undocumented, underpaid and lacking safety equipment as required by law.
More:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-coffee-slavery/picked-by-slaves-coffee-crisis-brews-in-brazil-idUSKBN1YG13E?rpc=401&
