VZCZCXRO0247
PP RUEHRG
DE RUEHSO #0276/01 1551659
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031659Z JUN 08
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8266
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 9395
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 3415
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 3167
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 1680
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 2717
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 3826
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0743
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 2415
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 4124
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 8740
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEAWJC/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RHMFIUU/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 SAO PAULO 000276 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/BSC, INL, DRL, G/TIP 
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR DS/IP/WHA, DS/IP/ITA, DS/T/ATA 
NSC FOR TOMASULO 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
USAID FOR LAC/AA 
 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV ELAB KCRM SMIG BR
SUBJECT: CONTACTS FEAR TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ON THE RISE 
 
REF: 07 SAO PAULO 958 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Brazil's trafficking in persons (TIP) dilemma presents a 
growing challenge to the law enforcement community and NGOs 
assisting with TIP victims.  Brazil is home to some cases of 
agricultural forced labor as well as urban textile sweatshops where 
Bolivian migrants work in precarious conditions.  The country is 
also a source of Brazilian women trafficked internationally as sex 
workers.  In order to combat this problem, Brazil needs clearer 
legislation to address trafficking, including the adoption of 
tougher sentences for criminals, as well as stronger measures to 
protect migrants who are unaware of their rights.  Additionally, 
further training and oversight of Brazilian police charged with 
border protection is a necessary component of any strategy to avoid 
official complicity in trafficking.  End Summary. 
 
Sao Paulo and Trafficking 
------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Marcia Heloisa Mendonca Ruiz, the Sao Paulo State Civil 
Police Chief in charge of the state's law enforcement efforts to 
combat TIP, told Poloff that many Brazilians come to Sao Paulo with 
the dream of finding high-salary employment, no matter what type of 
employment it involves.  Whereas TIP takes the form of forced labor 
working in cattle raising, sugarcane harvesting and other 
agricultural sectors in the country's north, or is manifested as 
sexual exploitation in the tourism cities of the northeast, Sao 
Paulo is home to several neighborhoods full of small textile and 
clothes-making shops that hire cheap labor employed in miserable 
working conditions (reftel).  Ruiz complained that Brazilian 
legislation is weak in addressing TIP, law enforcement and the 
criminal courts do not really understand what constitutes a TIP 
crime or how to investigate it, and the judiciary processes TIP 
cases too slowly. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Ruiz explained that organized crime is now involved in 
trafficking and detailed how several groups that she helped 
investigate employ networks of accountants, attorneys, and 
transportation companies such as truck or van drivers to get TIP 
victims to their final destination.  Sao Paulo, with its two 
international airports, large port, and many national and state 
highways, is a logical base for many of these criminal 
organizations.  Ruiz said that cases of internal TIP are growing 
annually.  Her team rescued 30 victims and brought evidence forward 
for the eventual prosecution of 14 traffickers in three operations 
in 2006, while in 2007 the unit saved 100 victims in five cases 
(although only one trafficker was prosecuted).  Aside from cases of 
internal trafficking, she added that many Brazilian women are 
trafficked to Europe, particularly Spain, to be sexually exploited. 
Recent press reports indicate that as many as 75,000 Brazilians may 
be in Europe employed in the sex industry.  This sex trade 
exploitation is not only of Brazilians in Europe, but also has seen 
the rise of trafficking of non-Brazilians into Brazil for sexual 
exploitation.  Paulo Illes, Coordinator of the Center for Support of 
the Migrant, said that his organization, which provides legal and 
employment assistance to some of the thousands of Bolivians living 
in Sao Paulo, has seen dozens of cases of Paraguayan and Peruvian 
girls trafficked into Brazil for the purpose of sexual exploitation 
in the country.  Maria do Socorro da Silva, Executive Secretary of 
the NGO Marginalized Women's Service, highlighted a new phenomenon 
in which Korean-Brazilians are trafficking Korean women to Sao Paulo 
to have them used as prostitutes in neighborhoods dominated by 
Korean immigrants. 
 
Bolivians Used in Forced Labor 
 
SAO PAULO 00000276  002 OF 004 
 
 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Ruiz stated that an additional major challenge in 
combating TIP is that victims are not aware that they are working in 
forced labor conditions.  She repeated what experts in the field 
note as one of the major difficulties in eradicating trafficking, 
helping Bolivian (as well as Peruvian and Paraguayan) migrants who 
are being used in forced labor in Sao Paulo's textile sweatshops. 
Ruiz said that she is particularly concerned about the number of 
Bolivian children who are born into or raised in sweatshops and 
think that their surroundings are not out of the ordinary because 
they do not know otherwise.  In 2007, Ruiz and her team rescued 26 
victims of forced labor in five cases leading to the imprisonment of 
five individuals.   (Note: She said that these numbers, which are 
distinct from the trafficking figures cited in paragraph 3, have 
remained more or less constant since she began collecting data in 
¶1999.  She asserted that one possible reason for the lack of 
increases in the number of forced labor cases brought to trial and 
the number of victims rescued was because her team is not able to 
act on more leads due to budgetary and staff limitations.  End 
Note.) 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Center for Support of the Migrant (CAMI) Coordinator Illes 
stated that Brazil has no policies to protect migrant workers, 
particularly Bolivians and Paraguayans living in Brazil.  Further 
complicating the issue is that forced labor bosses are constantly 
moving their bases of operation to avoid having law enforcement shut 
down their textile sweatshops.  He said that corrupt immigration 
officials who accept bribes to wave through busloads full of 
confused and naive Bolivians help augment trafficking.  (Note: 
Illes estimated that at least 1500 Bolivians enter Brazil every 
month in search of work.  End Note.)  According to Illes, upon 
arrival, traffickers force these Bolivians into debt bondage to pay 
back "travel expenses." 
 
...But Not According to Victims 
------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Contacts stated that a major challenge in confronting 
forced labor is the fact that victims themselves do not view their 
work as a crime.  Former Minister of Justice and Secretary of State 
for Human Rights Jose Gregori, who is currently serving as President 
of the Sao Paulo Municipal Commission for Human Rights, said that 
many Bolivians know what their employment will entail working in 
sweatshops, but prefer this type of labor as opposed to no 
employment at all as would be the case in Bolivia.  Civil Police 
Chief Ruiz said that women exploited for sex often defend those who 
trafficked them, particularly if they had the opportunity to "work" 
in Europe, which she said many victims consider a badge of honor. 
She stated that in Sao Paulo's textile sweatshops, even when they 
work 14-hour days with no food in horrible conditions, the Bolivians 
believe these settings are normal.  Victims have a positive image of 
their traffickers and forced labor bosses because the victims 
believe it is due to the criminals that they are able to secure a 
job, regardless of the conditions, Illes added.  (EMBASSY NOTE:  GOB 
Justice, Labor, and Exterior Relations Ministry officials have been 
aware of the presence of Bolivian, Paraguayan, Peruvian, and Chinese 
immigrants in the sweatshops of Sao Paulo for some years.  They 
admit, however, that they do not have accurate statistics on the 
numbers of people involved or their immigration status.  The 
situation is further complicated by the fact that travelers from 
neighboring countries do not require tourist visas to enter Brazil, 
but do require special visas and permits to work in-country. 
Federal law enforcement and immigration officials note the 
difficulty they face when trying to differentiate between 
immigrants, especially Bolivians, who voluntarily travel to Brazil 
in search of employment, and those who are trafficked into the 
country under false pretenses and then fall into a classic debt 
bondage situation.  While they recognize the need to assist 
immigrant TIP victims, they say they are faced with the dilemma of 
 
SAO PAULO 00000276  003 OF 004 
 
 
how to do so without attracting more illegal immigration based on 
the perception that Brazilian immigration and labor laws are lenient 
and its social assistance network (which includes TIP victim 
assistance programs) is not overly generous to non-Brazilians.  END 
EMBASSY NOTE.) 
 
Some Improvements but Challenges Remain 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Ruiz noted that following Brazil's 2004 adoption of the 
Palermo Protocols (the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish 
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children; and the 
Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air), 
the GOB moved to recognize TIP as not only an issue involving 
individuals being trafficked with Brazil as the source country, but 
also acknowledged the existence and challenges of trafficking within 
Brazil.  Marginalized Women's Service Executive Secretary Silva said 
that while the Brazilian Government has not done enough to combat 
TIP until recently, it is currently attempting to strengthen 
national programs aimed at educating potential victims.  Silva added 
that government-sponsored public fora highlighting TIP and 
legislation recognizing internal TIP are new measures that could 
help in the fight against trafficking.  She complained that 
sentences brought against traffickers are still too light, however, 
and that legislation needs to increase the time criminals serve in 
jail for collaborating in TIP.  Silva noted that one trafficker's 
case was dismissed even though the judge admitted in her closing 
statement that she was aware that he had 71 pictures in his 
possession of his sexual activity with minors he had trafficked. 
According to Silva, the trafficker threatened to reveal to whom he 
had sold these children, apparently mid-level government officials 
in Brazil's northeast.  Silva said that this was just an example of 
a phenomenon that occurs regularly and that the law needs to address 
these types of issues immediately. 
 
Focus on Foz do Iguacu 
---------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) During a recent visit to the city of Foz do Iguacu, in the 
heartland of the Tri-Border Area where the boundaries of Argentina, 
Brazil and Paraguay meet, Poloff discussed TIP with members of the 
Network for the Protection of Children and Adolescents in the 
Tri-Border Frontier, an association of NGOs, representatives of 
major local companies and government agencies.  Edinalva Severo from 
the NGO Sentinel Program to Attend to Victims of Sexual Violence 
stated that a major challenge for the anti-TIP network is getting 
the police to understand comprehensively the meaning of trafficking 
and how to combat its existence.  Valtenir Lazzarini, Director of 
the Our Home Foundation, which provides assistance to abandoned 
children including recovering trafficked youth, said that when the 
police do not investigate a crime as specifically a trafficking 
issue, the crime becomes a "source for impunity" because 
transgressors know they will get off on a less serious violation. 
He complained that Brazil has a shortage of law enforcement 
officials working to combat TIP. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Ricardo Rachid de Oliveira, a federal judge who presides 
over cases involving international crimes in the Tri-Border Area, 
said that the number of TIP cases he reviews continues to grow.  He 
recently reviewed an investigation in which police stopped a bus 
full of Bolivians entering Brazil to work in Sao Paulo's sweatshops 
being operated by a Paraguayan and a two Brazilians.  He added that 
Brazilian women from the region are trafficked to Argentina and 
Spain where they are sexually exploited.  According to Oliveira, the 
greatest difficulty in combating TIP is that those who are being 
trafficked do not recognize themselves as victims of a crime. 
Oliveira said that the fact that the police are not looking at 
certain TIP cases as such, and that Brazil's criminal courts are not 
well-prepared to handle TIP crimes, are additional challenges. 
 
 
SAO PAULO 00000276  004 OF 004 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) While our contacts tell us that trafficking in persons 
and forced labor continue to be serious issues in Brazil, efforts to 
educate the public and to open up discussion on TIP, as well as the 
government's adoption of the Palermo Protocols, are all positive 
signs that efforts are underway to combat these crimes.  Continued 
training of the law enforcement community is vital and educational 
programs in schools will also help, but even with these efforts, 
criminal organizations are likely to find ways around tougher 
anti-TIP barriers.  Many Brazilian officials seem to be open to 
greater USG support to combat TIP, offering a unique opportunity for 
more bilateral cooperation.  Pursuing these avenues at both the 
state and federal levels could potentially help ameliorate the 
situation.  End Comment. 
 
¶11.  (U) This cable was coordinated with and cleared by Embassy 
Brasilia. 
 
WHITE