Brazilian labor court fines $13 million for slave-like conditions of construction workers in Angola

In Brazil, a labor court has convicted Odebrecht of using slave-like practices with its Angola workers during the construction of the company’s ethanol project in the country. The court has fined the company $13 million as a result, which it vows to appeal because it says the company in charge of the construction labor at the plant was a local Angolan company which Odebrecht only has a minor stake in and wasn’t in charge of the actual labor management. Odebrecht’s CEO is currently in jail as a result of an unrelated corruption charge linked with monopolistic practices by the country’s construction industry.