Urgent Appeal n°320 (from 18 September to 15 November 2008)

In the context of climate change and escalating oil prices, biofuels are presented as a sustainable alternative energy source. Brazil, with an output of 18 billion litres in 2007, is second only to the US as the world’s main producer of one of these fuels, ethanol, derived from sugarcane. Robert Louis Dreyfus, who is the main shareholder and the leader of the Louis-Dreyfus Group, France’s 5th richest man [1] and n°2 in the Brazilian sugar-ethanol sector, intends to expand sugarcane farming rapidly in Brazil through his subsidiary Louis Dreyfus Commodities Bioenergia. The plan is to build distilleries throughout the country [2] and to mechanize production. This modernization will unquestionably make it possible to produce more, faster and at a lower cost, but it will also threaten thousands of jobs, occupied primarily by local indigenous people who have been exploited by the sugar industry for decades.

In the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in south-western Brazil, some 13,000 locals, mostly Guarani Indians [3], work on sugarcane plantations and in ethanol factories. For decades they have been the main source of manpower in this industry and have paid a heavy price. Poor food, toilets blocked or nonexistant, precarious dwellings, over-populated damp dormitories, occupational accidents because of the pressure resulting from a constantly raising productivity, unpaid wages, etc. [4]: these are the conditions in which the plantation workers are exploited and which were revealed by state inspectors in November 2007. The authorities themselves compared the situation to slavery.

Insufficient protection of local workers

In the 1980s, when a national programme to promote ethanol (the Proálcool Programme) was implemented to boost sugarcane production in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, the Guarani men left their villages to work on plantations, sometimes hundreds of kilometres away. The working conditions of these men, packed into crowded tents without access to clean drinking water, were informal and chaotic. They had no labour contracts and their wages were regularly kept back or not paid at all.

Pressure by civil society organizations led to some improvements in the 1990s. In 1999 the "Local worker’s convention" was signed in Mato Grosso. In terms of this agreement, labour contracts for workers in the sugar industry may not exceed 70 days, so that Indians can return to their villages and the continuity of community life can be facilitated. Standards of comfort, hygiene and security have to be applied to all rural workers.

But the application of this Pact was and still is insufficient. Inspections by the Minister of Labour and Employment in recent years have revealed persistent violations of workers’ rights in the sugar and ethanol sectors, especially irregularities concerning labour contracts, safety conditions and housing.

Even though it has not been strictly applied, this labour regulation has prompted the large sugar plantation owners, still encouraged by the government to invest in ethanol [5], to intensify mechanization.

Mechanization is threatening workers

The Guarani originally occupied eight million hectares of forests in today’s Mato Grosso do Sul. Chased off their land by soy and livestock farmers, the remaining 42,000 Guarani now live in over-crowded camps rife with malnutrition, poverty, alcoholism and violence. "They stole their land, destroyed their natural resources, and confined them to camps to force them into the world of under-employment" explains André Campos, from the CIMI (the Indigenous Missionary Council), an organization that defends indigenous people’s rights in Brazil. Work outside the village has generated insecurity and violence, and the indigenous economy has been totally destructured. Food production has been seriously affected and the population has become entirely dependent on government assistance.

It is in this social and economic context that the company Louis Dreyfus Commodities Bioenegia decided in 2007 to buy factories and set up a new sugar-ethanol complex which has been inaugurated last August in Mato Grosso do Sul. The multinational plans to mechanize all its harvesting, in the six factories it has in Mato Grosso do Sul. A total of 10,000 to 12,000 jobs will thus be lost due to mechanization in this state, in which Dreyfus is the main employer for the sector. What will happen then? What will the consequences be for the thousands of families who find themselves without work?

The CIMI considers that as Mato Grosso do Sul’s main employer and Brazil’s second largest ethanol producer, the company Louis Dreyfus cannot disregard the economic and social consequences of mechanization on the Guarani peoples of the state. The company has already made and will continue to make huge profits by investing in an industry that, for years, has grown at the expense of local indigenous populations. Today, while we hope that mechanization will put an end to the labour abuse suffered by the Guarani, especially near-slave labour on the plantations, nothing leads us to believe that they will benefit in any way from the expansion of ethanol.

That is why the CIMI is appealing to us for our solidarity today. The organization has asked us to write to Robert Louis Dreyfus, urging the company to take into consideration the fate of Guarani workers in the Mato Grosso do Sul, to compensate those who lose their jobs, and to provide reskilling programmes.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The CIMI
The Indigenous Missionary Council was created in 1972 to favour the articulation between villages and people, by supporting the struggle for the indigenous peoples’ right to cultural diversity.

The HUNGERFree campaign
The aim of this campaign, launched by ActionAid in partnership with Peuples Solidaires, is to inform people on the real causes of hunger and the role of the right to food. It also supports the mobilization of populations in the South and petitions states and firms to accept their responsibilities.
www.peuples-solidaires.org

Publication: "Un sucre au goût amer"
In 2006 Peuples Solidaires and Sucre-Ethique published a book on the conditions on sugarcane plantations and the commercialization of this raw material. This book is available on order from Orcades: www.orcades-vpc.com

FIAN - Press visit
From 6 to 8 April 2008, Fian visited the Guarani in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. See the blog created for that purpose: http://fian-guarani-fr.blogspot.com/

This urgent petition was launched under the auspices of the programme: "The right to development for all" of the CRID, with financial assistance from the European Union. Its contents are the accepted responsibility of the CRID and Peuples Solidaires and may not in any way be considered a reflection of the position of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor of the European Union.

WRITE!

By letter: download the standard letter at the end of this page or use your own wording. Remember to add your name, address and signature.
Letter of support: so that the members of CIMI have an idea of the support on which they can rely, send the letter of support to them.
E-mail: SEND YOUR PROTEST LETTER NOW!
Deadline for reaction: on reception and until 15 November 2008.

PROTEST LETTER

Monsieur Robert Louis Dreyfus
Directeur de Louis Dreyfus Négoce
87 Avenue de la Grande Armee
75782 Paris Cedex 16

Cher M. Dreyfus,

J’ai été informé(e) par Peuples Solidaires de la mécanisation programmée de vos unités de production de sucre-éthanol actuelles et futures dans le Mato Grosso do Sul au Brésil. Vous n’êtes pas sans savoir que cette modernisation impliquera une perte irrémédiable de revenus pour les communautés Guarani qui constituent une part importante de la main-d’œuvre de cette industrie.
Je suis extrêmement préoccupé(e) par les conséquences que pourrait avoir la perte de milliers d’emplois pour cette communauté indigène qui a déjà subi de nombreux préjudices graves en conséquence de l’exploitation du sucre et de la production d’éthanol dans le pays, et vous exhorte à:
   Indemniser justement les travailleurs-coupeurs de canne;
   constituer un fonds destiné à financer des activités de récupération de l’économie de production d’aliments sur les terres indigènes ;
   mettre en place un système d’accompagnement qui permette l’accès des travailleurs à des programmes de formation professionnalisants afin de les diriger vers de nouveaux emplois. Cordialement,

Translation:

Yours sincerely,

LETTER OF SUPPORT

Cimi Regional Mato Grosso do Sul
Conselheiro: Egon Heck
Av. Afonso Pena, 1557 Sala 208 Bl.B
Campo Grande - MS - CEP 79002-070
BRESIL

Prezados companheiros do CIMI,

Fui informado(a) pela ONG Peuples Solidaires (Povos Solidários) da mecanização programada das unidades de produção de açúcar e de etanol do grupo Louis Dreyfus Commodities Bioenergia presente e futura no Estado brasileiro do Mato Grosso do Sul.
Fico grandemente preocupado(a)pelas conseqüências que poderá ter a perda de milhares de empregos na comunidade Guarani, a qual já sofreu numerosos danos graves em conseqüência da exploração de açúcar e da produção de etanol no país.
Eu apoio a sua ação e mandei um correio ao senhor Dreyfus, pedindo que respondasse imediatamente as suas reivindicações.

Solidariamente,

Translation:

With my full solidarity,
Kind regards,

[1] According to the magazine « Challenges »,www.challenges.fr/classements/fortune.php

[2] Article from Séverine Alibeu, March,15 2007 http://ecologie.caradisiac.com/Louis-DREYFUS-la-societe-francaise-et-le-Bresil-une-affaire-qui-roule-pour-l-ethanol-883

[3] Guarani are an group of culturaly related indegenous peoples of South America in the amazonian regions of Brazil and Paraguay. They are the dominant indegenous community in the country.

[4] Results of the inspection led in the Debrasa plantation, in the municipality of Brasilandia, and in the distillery of Iguatemi.

[5] In December 2007, the State Government conceded tax benefits to 43 new similar projects,among which 16 are already completed.