By Kevin Zonnefeld, MCC Nicaragua
Cassie and I rode a bus through one of the many “zona francas” (free trade zones) here in Nicaragua. It was a Saturday night and thousands of people were flooding into the streets after a long work day in the sweat shops making and assembling products for consumers in North America.
We are only beginning to learn about the slave industry here in Nicaragua. However, here the slave industry is blatant, in your face with the vast majority of the population (over 80%) earning less than $1 U.S. dollar a day. This forces us to ask ourselves, who is working for us and how are our choices affecting the lives of others not only in Nicaragua but around the world?
Who is working for you? Did you know that you are currently employing many slaves, both children and adults around the world? We are confronted with this reality as we drink coffee, eat fresh fruits and vegetables and enjoy a piece of chocolate.
We thought that it would be appropriate to pass on this survey. Slavery Footprint “allows consumers to visualize how their consumption habits are connected to modern-day slavery.”
Click here for the survey: Slavery Footprint
NOTE -As of March 2012, there were close to 103,000 people employed in the Nicaragua free trade zone. According to the National Free Trade Zone Commission, the organization’s objective is to employee 120,000 people in Nicaragua by the end of 2012, at the same time, factories are closing and moving to other countries with lower wages.
There are free trade manufacturing zones in almost every country in Latin America. Production is continually being moved to countries with ever lower wages and fewer worker rights, in a “race-to-the-bottom” for poor countries competing to host factories, and in a process of ever-increasing profit margins for corporations.
References
Photo and article http://www.witnessforpeace.org/article.php?id=739