Volkswagen Convicted Over Slave Labor on Its Amazon Cattle Ranch

Key Facts

—The ruling. On June 11, 2026, a labor court in Redenção, Pará, convicted Volkswagen do Brasil over slave-like conditions on its former Amazon ranch.

—The award. R$2 million (about $400,000) to each of three workers, split between moral and existential damages; the company can appeal.

—The ranch. Fazenda Vale do Rio Cristalino, around 139,000 hectares in Santana do Araguaia, run by a Volkswagen subsidiary in the 1970s and 1980s.

—The bigger judgment. A February 2026 appeals ruling upheld a separate R$165 million (about $33 million) collective-damages conviction over the same ranch.