On Tuesday there will be a hearing before the labor court in the Brazilian capital Brasília, which will certainly also be followed closely in Wolfsburg. The VW group has to answer for its collaboration with the Brazilian military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s. It is about one of the particularly dark chapters in post-war German economic history. The accusation of “slave labor” is in the room. In Brasília, the big question will be how much responsibility a global corporation still bears for what happened on its company premises at other times and under other political conditions. But it’s also about a very simple question: Can it be that difficult to just say “perdão” loudly and clearly, sorry?
From today’s perspective, it is difficult to understand what prompted Volkswagen to set up a cattle farm in Brazil from 1973 and to enter the global meat business. The carmaker cleared tens of thousands of hectares of forest in the Amazon basin and carted hundreds of workers into a largely undeveloped area. From what is known today, VW was speculating on a mix of fiscal and political gains by participating in the Brazilian government’s proclaimed “conquest of the Amazon.” In any case, one thing is certain, which did not stop Volkswagen from making this investment: that at the time there was a brutal military regime in Brazil that was oppressive, imprisoned and tortured. VW made itself an accomplice to this dictatorship.
Looking back, the “Fazenda Volkswagen” was a double fiasco for the company. It turned out to be a gigantic loss-making business and was sold again after less than a decade and a half. But what remains is a moral declaration of bankruptcy including preliminary investigations. According to the findings of the Brazilian public prosecutor’s office, systematic human rights violations were committed on the VW farm between 1974 and 1986. It’s about debt bondage, human trafficking and the “exploitation of slave labor”. The crimes are said to have been committed on the farm site on temporary workers who were used for clearing work – probably with the knowledge of the group’s board of directors in Wolfsburg. On Tuesday, VW has to face these allegations in court for the first time. It would be an opportunity for a big guilty plea. But the signals point in a different direction: Perdão will not be given.
VW has paid money to a charity before, but saw it as a donation rather than an apology
It’s not the first time that VW’s unconditional loyalty to the Brazilian military dictators has caught up with them. 2017 documented research by NDR, SWR and SZthat during the dictatorship Volkswagen had apparently been actively involved in the political persecution of opponents of the regime at its Beetle production site near São Paulo. In 2020, VW do Brasil committed itself to a payment of the equivalent of 5.5 million euros to a victims’ association. But first, the lead plaintiff was already deceased at the time. And secondly, at the time, VW emphasized the “donation character” of this money and stubbornly avoided terms such as “compensation” or “excuse me”.
Today, the VW Group points out that it is the most transparent about its history among the German companies that paid particular attention to the numbers during the dictatorship in Brazil. But the fact that others might be doing it worse doesn’t make things any better for VW.
It cannot be ruled out that the alleged human rights violations on the VW farm are time-barred from the point of view of the Brazilian judiciary. But the VW Group should not withdraw to a purely legal position. Here he has a moral duty to finally actively come to terms with his past. VW must publicly apologize to those affected and compensate them appropriately. Time is pressing, because many of these victims are now very old. If something doesn’t happen soon, the suspicion that VW wants to delay the work-up until nobody can complain anymore.