VZCZCXRO0431
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #0460 1051325
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151325Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4050
INFO RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 9373
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 3871
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 7568
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 6176
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 7730
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 7486
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 0916
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON 0499
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS BRASILIA 000460 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM PGOV BR
SUBJECT:  TOP BRAZILIAN CONGRESSMAN PRIORITIZES ANTI-SLAVE LABOR 
BILL 
 
REFS: A) 08 BRASILIA 390, B) 08 BRASILIA 1681 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  The president of the Chamber of Deputies wants the 
proposed constitutional amendment authorizing expropriation of lands 
used for slave labor to be passed as soon as possible.  The nine 
year old bill has been languishing in the lower house since 2004, 
but the Chamber president intends to convene extraordinary sessions 
for it and other high priority bills.  Its passage would be a major 
advance in Brazil's fight against forced labor and trafficking in 
persons.  End summary. 
 
"Slave Labor Amendment" 
- - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶2.  (U) Proposed Constitutional Amendment 438 ("PEC 438"), known as 
the Slave Labor Amendment, would authorize the permanent 
expropriation without compensation of lands and any other properties 
used for "labor conditions analogous to slavery," in Brazil's usual 
description of forced labor.  Further, expropriated lands would be 
turned over to eligible families under the agrarian reform program. 
The Senate approved PEC 438 in 2001 and sent it to the Chamber.  If 
the Chamber of Deputies passes the bill, it will go back to the 
Senate for another vote because deputies linked to agricultural 
interests amended it to include expropriation of urban properties as 
well as farms.  Once approved by congress, it cannot be vetoed and 
becomes law immediately. 
 
Extraordinary Sessions: Presidential Decree "Work-Around" 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3. (U) The Chamber has been unable to vote on PEC 438, indeed on 
almost anything recently, because presidential decrees ("medidas 
provisorias") often "lock" the agenda.  Michel Temer (Brazilian 
Democratic Movement Party, PMDB, of Sao Paulo) told the Chamber of 
Deputies news agency that he has a list of bills he would like 
brought up for a vote as soon as possible in extraordinary sessions. 
 With broad support in the Congress for a way around the 
constitutionally mandated "locking" of the agenda by presidential 
decrees, Temer decided to convene extraordinary sessions to vote on 
high priority legislation for which there is broad support.  He 
included PEC 438 on a wish list he cited in a television interview 
broadcast on April 2. 
 
Background 
- - - - - - 
 
¶4.  (U) A constitutional amendment must be approved twice by each 
house of congress with a 3/5 majority to become law.  PEC 438 was 
introduced in the Senate in 1999 and was passed twice by the 3/5 
majority the Constitution requires.  It was introduced in the 
Chamber of Deputies in November 2001, and was approved in August 
2004, but was never brought up for the second vote.  In May 2008, 
deputies voted to place it on the agenda, and in March 2009 it was 
queued up for debate, but it still has not been debated.  Temer's 
intention is to push it through in the extraordinary sessions he 
will convene.  Opposition parties oppose the extraordinary sessions 
and filed suit in the Supreme Court to block them.  Temer affirmed 
that he will not convene the extraordinary sessions until the 
Supreme Court rules on the pending suit. 
 
 
¶5.  (U)  Comment.  Even if Temer is unable to get PEC 438 passed in 
an extraordinary session, it could be approved in a regular session, 
and Temer's prioritization of it will give it added impetus. 
Previous votes were overwhelmingly in favor, with only a few 
intransigent legislators representing rural interests voting 
against, and it will probably pass, representing a watershed in the 
fight against forced labor.  Until recently, the GOB only fined 
violators, which violators viewed as an annoying cost of doing 
business.  But faced with the expropriation of the source of their 
livelihood, violators will be forced to mend their ways or go out of 
business once this Constitutional Amendment becomes law.  PEC 438 is 
likely to pass not because the forced labor situation has worsened, 
but because the government has prioritized the fight against forced 
labor and, as a result, a consensus on the need to take strong 
measures has developed. 
 
SOBEL