And I Thought Ethanol Production was bad in the US

The Forbes version of an AP story:
Brazil Raid Frees Ethanol Plant Slaves

Brazilian authorities said they raided an Amazon plantation where more than 1,000 laborers were found working 13-hour days, in horrendous conditions, cutting sugar cane for ethanol production.

Authorities said that if preliminary findings by investigators are confirmed, the raid would be Brazil's biggest to date against debt slavery, which is common in the Amazon.

Under the practice, poor laborers are lured to remote spots where they rack up debts to plantation owners charging exorbitant prices for everything from food to transportation.

But the Amazon plantation's owner - the biggest ethanol producer in the northeastern state of Para - vigorously denied the allegations Tuesday and said the workers make good money by Brazilian standards.

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Police found 1,108 poor workers working from 4:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. with only a short break for lunch, the statement said. They complained of paying exorbitant prices for food and medicine, and many walked miles to get to work while others were transported in ramshackle vans.

Many were sick from spoiled food or unsafe water, slept in cramped quarters on hammocks and did not have proper sanitation facilities, Humberto Celio, coordinator of the Labor Ministry's special unit that frees debt slaves, told the government news service Agencia Brasil.

The company, Para Pastoril e Agricola SA, has been in operation since 1969 and each year produces 13.2 million gallons of ethanol, often billed as an environmentally friendly alternative to gasoline.