40 years later, Volkswagen held accountable for cattle farm forced labor

More than 40 years after they were subjected to forced labor on a cattle ranch in the Brazilian Amazon, four survivors have won a historic legal victory against Volkswagen’s Brazilian subsidiary. A court in Pará state ordered the company to pay each survivor two million reais (about $390,000) in damages. The ruling marks the largest individual compensation award for forced labor ever granted in Brazil.

“We were just kids”—justice after four decades

Raimundo Batista de Souza was a teenager when he and his brothers were recruited to work on the ranch during the 1980s. But in a familiar bait and switch, what was presented as an opportunity quickly became a nightmare. Souza recalls workers becoming trapped in a system of debt bondage, forced to clear forest land while accumulating debts they could never repay. Now the four remaining survivors have finally won a landmark ruling. In fact, the largest financial compensation for forced labor ever ordered in Brazil.

Andréia Silverio of Coletivo Veredas, the group of grassroots lawyers who represented the plaintiffs told El Pais:

It is a very important precedent because it establishes that this crime does not expire (and) the state has the duty to pursue these crimes and hold those who profited from slave labor accountable.

The case follows years of advocacy by survivors, lawyers, and Father Ricardo Rezende, the Catholic priest whose investigation helped expose the abuses. His efforts were instrumental in documenting the exploitation and preserving evidence long after the crimes occurred. It is hoped the ruling will open the door to new lawsuits.

Made to pay for materials, trapped in debt

According to survivor testimony, hundreds of laborers were recruited under false promises and transported to the remote ranch. Once there, they were forced into debt bondage, charged for transportation, food, tools, and even materials needed to build their shelters. In such a remote location, there was nowhere else to buy supplies.

The inflated costs ensured debts continued to grow no matter how much they worked.

Souza shared:

We went to get paid and they told us you have to clear another 20 acres. So we did. And the same thing again. We’d already done 40 acres, and they were asking for 20 more. And (meanwhile) the debt kept getting bigger, we were just kids.

Multiple survivors described grueling days clearing forest from sunrise to sunset. They lived in makeshift huts and faced disease, dangerous wildlife, and constant surveillance by armed guards.

Nunes, another survivor, recalled witnessing violent abuse shortly after arriving. Other workers reportedly disappeared, died from illness, or were subjected to threats and intimidation. Escaping was extremely difficult and often dangerous.

Judge rules that companies have a duty to workers

The ruling is particularly significant because the court dismissed the two key supply chain arguments put forward by Volkswagen. First, the company claimed that it was not directly responsible because middlemen hired the laborers, that it couldn’t be responsible for the practices of recruiters. Secondly, Volkswagen also argued that the events took place decades ago.

Firmly rejecting this defense, the judge ruled that the company could not evade responsibility for abuses committed within its operations simply by hiding behind their subcontractors. Companies have a duty to monitor conditions throughout their operations and supply chains.

The judge also said that forced labor is a serious human rights violation that does not lose significance with time. Lawyers say the decision establishes an important precedent: accountability for slavery-like practices does not expire.

The judgment opens the door for additional claims from other survivors and sends a powerful message to corporations worldwide. While appeals are expected, survivors hope the ruling will ensure that the abuses they endured are neither forgotten nor repeated.

While celebrating the win, Father Rezende stresses that “compensation does not heal the pain, but it gives hope that companies will not commit such crimes again.”