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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 000233 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/BSC AND G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2019 
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KFRD KWMN ELAB PREF ASEC SMIG BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: STATE TACKLING CHILD AND SLAVE LABOR, TIP: 
A REPORT FROM MARANHAO 
 
REF: BRASILIA 01686 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Steve Liston. Reason 1.5 (d) 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: The Northeastern Brazilian state of Maranhao 
ranks among the jurisdictions in Brazil with the highest 
incidence of domestic child labor, forced labor, and 
trafficking in persons (TIP).  As one of Brazil's poorest 
states, resource constraints, coupled with neglect by state 
governments and cultural tolerance, have hampered the state's 
ability to effectively combat these scourges. In the last few 
years, however, the state government has embarked on a course 
to reverse this situation by establishing state plans to deal 
with slave labor and violence against women, passing new laws 
to punish employers of domestic child labor, and creating 
police stations exclusively dedicated to victimized women, 
among others.  Together with a vibrant NGO community, the 
state of Maranhao is taking important steps that could pay 
dividends if it can sustain its efforts over the 
medium-to-long term.  End summary. 
 
------------------------ 
Child Labor in Maranhao 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (C) Emboff traveled to Maranhao in late September to 
discuss trafficking in persons, forced labor, and 
exploitation of women and children (ref a  reported on drug 
trafficking and public security in the states of Maranhao and 
Para; septel will report on TIP issues in Para).  The eighth 
largest state, with a land area comparable to Florida and 
Georgia combined, Maranhao is bordered on the north east, by 
the Atlantic Ocean, and by the states of Para, Tocatins, and 
Piaui.  A heavily forested plain covers the northern portion; 
the north central portion of the state is home to degraded, 
moist tropical forest that has been largely cleared for 
cattle grazing and agriculture; while the southern portion is 
mostly savannas.  The state has the sixth largest population 
in Brazil, and is a center for afro-Brazilian culture, 
ranking eighth in percentage of self-described blacks, and 
seventh in self-described brown-skinned people among 
Brazilian states. 
 
¶3. (C) During a meeting with several NGOs that work in the 
areas of domestic child labor, forced labor, and violence 
against women, representatives of these NGOs highlighted the 
conditions suffered by women and workers in this state, and 
years of state neglect of the problems that, according to the 
collective view of the NGO representatives, only began to 
change in the last couple of years after the "oligarchic" 
governments of the past 40 years passed from the scene. 
(Note: A frequent refrain heard both from government and 
non-government figures, the term refers to the state 
governments prior to the election of current governor Jackson 
Lago (PDT- Democratic Workers Party; government coalition). 
Prior to Lago's election, the family of former president and 
current federal senate president Jose Sarney (PMDB, Amapa) 
had dominated Maranhao's politics.  Responsible for electing 
the state's governor since 1966, including a stint from 1995 
to 2002 when Sarney's daughter Roseana, now also a federal 
senator (PMDB, Maranhao), was governor of the state, the 
Sarney family maintains considerable political influence in 
the state.  It owns most of the state's major radio, 
television, and print media outlets and is believed to be 
behind an ongoing effort to oust Lago on corruption 
allegations; if the effort is successful, Roseana Sarney 
would again become governor.  End note.) 
 
¶3. (C) According to Rogenir Costa, Catholic Relief Services' 
(CRS) representative in Maranhao, domestic child labor is an 
enormous problem in Maranhao, and a culturally accepted 
practice.  Costa noted that there are currently 16,000 girls 
performing domestic child labor, a number that is down from 
38,000 before Bolsa Familia -- the Brazilian government's 
multi-billion dollar poverty alleviation program -- was 
established. Domestic child workers -- girls from as young as 
nine to 17 acting as live-in maids or babysitters -- are seen 
 
BRASILIA 00000233  002 OF 003 
 
 
by both the parents of the child worker and the employers, as 
beneficial to the working child.  In their view, the burden 
of feeding and clothing the domestic child workers is lifted 
from the extremely poor and rural families who willingly give 
up their child.  Most often, however, these girls are 
typically abused, overworked, and receive little-to-no 
monetary compensation for their work other than food and 
shelter, according to Costa.  Some of them are allowed to 
study at night, but only after having done their house 
chores.  They also have little recourse when they are abused. 
 Costa, cited the emblematic case 18 years ago of a 12 year 
old girl who accidentally dropped a baby she was caring for, 
leading to the baby's death, after which the parents of the 
baby murdered the girl.  The murderers were never convicted, 
recounted Costa. 
 
¶4. (C) Compounding the problem, Costa observed, child labor 
is an entry point into prostitution networks and sexual 
trafficking routes in Maranhao.  Usually, according to Costa, 
this occurs when girls from rural areas are "hired" by 
families in cities; after the families are "done" with them, 
with little education and the prospect of returning to the 
poor conditions their families faced, they decide to enter 
the sexual trade.  According to Costa, a lot of the girls end 
up in one of the estimated 17 trafficking routes that go 
through Maranhao.  Although most of these routes have 
domestic destinations as their endpoint, according to Costa, 
many Maranhense girls end up on the trafficking routes to 
Europe that go through Suriname and French Guiana after 
departing on ships from the Itaqui Port in the Maranhense 
capital of Sao Luis. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Source State for Forced Labor 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) In 2007, the Ministry of Labor's Mobile Inspection 
Teams liberated 316 workers in the state, which placed it 
fifth among Brazilian states that year.  In 2008, the number 
of liberated workers dropped to 99, placing it in 14th place. 
 According to officials from the State Commission for the 
Eradication of Slave Labor (COETRAE/MA), Maranhao is one of 
the top sources for forced labor in Brazil, providing as many 
as 38% of the estimated 25,000-40,000 forced laborers in 
Brazil. 
 
¶6. (C) According to Flavia Moura, of Instituto Trabalho Vivo 
in Maranhao, who has conducted field research in the area of 
forced labor in the state, the problem is very complex and 
stems from the dire conditions workers face.  Many of the 
workers know what they are getting into, but their conditions 
are so miserable, they do it anyway, in order to eat.  Moura 
indicated that she interviewed workers who, after being 
liberated, go back to slave-like work willingly, because they 
have no other options.  Moura indicated some workers have 
even learned to game the system and go back to slave-like 
conditions in order to receive multiple indenizations from 
the government.  (Note: Indenizations for freed workers are 
awarded to them by the Brazilian government, which forces the 
companies that kept the workers in slave-like conditions to 
pay them as part of their civil penalties. End note.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Tackling the Problem: "Previous Governments Did Nothing" 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶7. (C) During a meeting with members of COETRAE/MA, Ubirajara 
do Pindare, aide to Governor Jackson Lago and executive 
secretary to the commission, told poloff that Maranhao is 
only now starting to emerge from its "feudal" state and is 
starting to tackle the root causes of the misery that 
afflicts the people of Maranhao after 40 years of 
governments that did nothing to improve the lives of the 
people. According to do Pindare, the previous government 
built three schools in the previous eight years, whereas this 
government has built 160 in two years.  He continued, "this 
is a state that, if we were to separate it from Brazil, would 
 
BRASILIA 00000233  003 OF 003 
 
 
be the poorest in Latin America".  (Note: From 2003-2005, 
Maranhao ranked next to last in the human development index 
among Brazilian states; at .683 for 2005, Maranhao's figure 
is lower than Bolivia and Guatemala, the least developed 
countries in Latin America. End note.) 
 
¶8. (C) According to a COTRAE/MA representative, using the 
socioeconomic indices of the 10 municipalities in Maranhao 
with the most liberated workers, one can see how going into 
slave labor willingly might be a necessary choice.  For 
example, in the town of Passagem Franca the literacy rate is 
only 57 percent (compared to overall literacy rate in 
Maranhao of 79 percent and 89 percent in Brazil) and life 
expectancy is 58.71 years for males (compared to 64 years for 
the male population of Maranhao and 69 years for Brazilian 
male population).  On average these ten cities have a 
literacy rate of 65 percent and a life expectancy of 60 
years. 
 
¶9. (C) According to Pindare, and confirmed by various NGO 
representatives in separate meetings with poloff, since 2006 
the government of Maranhao has mobilized its resources to 
tackle the issues of trafficking in persons, violence against 
women, domestic child labor, and forced labor. Since 2006, 
the state government has established the COETRAE and adopted 
the State Plan for the Eradication of Slave Labor, a set of 
policies which lay out the tasks missions assigned to the 
various government entities to combat slave labor through 
preventive and repressive actions and providing services and 
training to victims. In the area of domestic child labor, in 
2008, the governor signed into law legislation making it a 
fireable offense for civil service employees of the state to 
use children as domestic employees. 
 
¶10. (U) The state in 2008 also established the State Plan for 
Public Policies on Women, which is focused on, among other 
things, the trafficking problem.  Maranhao followed the 
creation of the state plan on women with a conference 
gathering municipal governments to focus on concerted actions 
to combat violence against women.  The state also created a 
committee for monitoring the implementation of the plan, 
which is composed of 12 state government departments.  In 
addition, the state has established at least 18 police 
stations dedicated exclusively to attending women (DEAMs), 
the most in the northeast region.  By contrast, Bahia, with a 
female population of 6.9 million, which more than doubles 
Maranhao's 3 million women, has only 12 DEAMs, and 
Pernambuco, with a female population of 4.3 million, only has 
five. 
 
---------- 
Comment: 
---------- 
 
¶11. (C) Even when discounting the partisan boasting from 
officials within the government, it remains true that the 
current government of Maranhao did intensify its efforts to 
tackle the issues of domestic child labor, forced labor, and 
exploitation of women, including trafficking.  Whereas the 
state government used to focus more on actions to suppress 
these activities -- letting civil society take the lead in 
preventive measures-- the new approach tackles the issues in 
a comprehensive manner, from preventive actions, to services 
to victims after the crimes have been reported, all the while 
partnering with civil society and the federal government. 
Adopting policies was, however, the easy part.  Executing 
them in the face of budget constrains and competing demand 
for resources heading into the 2010 elections will be the key 
test that will indicate whether the plans will have sustained 
power. 
 
 
SOBEL