Brazilian authorities have halted the construction of a factory for Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD, saying workers lived in conditions comparable to “slavery”. More than 160 workers have been rescued in Brazil’s northeastern state of Bahia, according to a statement from the Public Labour Prosecutor’s Office (MPT).
At least Brazil cares enough to stop horrible work conditions.
The country = government = state doesn’t give a damn fuck. It cares about its own international image, and letting the Chinese company off the hook would hurt that image; that’s it.
That’s doubly true in Bahia (where this happened). In that State alone you got 3625 reported slave workers from 1995 to 2023*; the actual number is probably way higher because this sort of thing gets under-reported. If I recall correctly Minas Gerais (State neighbouring Bahia) is also the same deal.
*the source is in Portuguese but I can translate if someone wants.
160 in one blow vs. 3625 over 28 years (130 per year) in the whole state seems like a pretty big deal.