Four Argentine workers in conditions analogous to slavery were rescued this Saturday night (1st) in Nova Petrópolis, in the Serra Gaúcha. According to the Federal Police and the Ministry of Labor and Employment, responsible for the operation, one of the victims is a minor.
The rescued people worked cutting firewood on a rural property in the municipality. According to the Federal Police, they had been abandoned by their employers and had no resources for food and accommodation.
The Federal Police were called after receiving a complaint from the Military Brigade of Rio Grande do Sul, which also participated in the operation. A man, responsible for the activities, was arrested in flagrante delicto for subjecting workers to conditions analogous to slavery, a crime provided for in Article 149 of the Penal Code. Taken to the Federal Police in Caxias do Sul (RS), he will be forwarded to the Penitentiary System and will remain at the disposal of the Federal Justice.
Upon arriving at the rural property, the federal police, military brigade members and inspectors from the Ministry of Labor and Employment found the workers camped in the forest in unhealthy conditions and completely unassisted. Argentines were without drinking water, without electricity and without access to toilets.
