ANA LONOVA2026年4月16日去年，比亚迪在巴西巴伊亚州卡马萨里的一家在建工厂。巴西劳工部发现，建造该工厂的中国工人生活在恶劣的环境里。 Victor Moriyama for The New York TimesPresident Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil rose to power by fighting for the rights of workers. Now, in an awkward twist, his government is being accused of stifling concerns about labor abuses by a major Chinese carmaker.巴西总统卢拉以捍卫工人权益起家。如今却出现了一个颇为尴尬的反转：他的政府被指控压制对一家中国大型汽车制造商侵犯劳工权益的担忧。The crisis comes after Mr. Lula’s government dismissed a top labor ministry official just days after he added the Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD to a national registry of employers accused of subjecting workers to conditions similar to slavery.这场危机发生在卢拉政府解雇一名劳工部高级官员之后。就在几天前，这名官员将中国电动汽车巨头比亚迪列入了一个全国性的不良雇主名单，该名单专门记录被指控让工人在类似奴役条件下工作的企业。The episode has placed the government of Mr. Lula, a former union leader who co-founded the leftist Workers’ Party, in an uncomfortable position. And it has highlighted the growing prominence of Chinese automakers in Brazil, where they have made an aggressive push by pouring billions into building plants and expanding EV sales.这一事件让卢拉政府陷入尴尬境地。卢拉曾是工会领袖，也是左翼政党工人党的共同创始人。这也凸显了中国汽车制造商在巴西日益增长的影响力——它们通过投入数十亿美元建设工厂、扩大电动车销售，在巴西大举扩张。Brazil’s labor minister, Luiz Marinho, said the dismissal of his top labor inspection official, Luiz Felipe Brandão de Mello, was a routine personnel change but declined to say whether it was related to BYD.巴西劳工部长路易斯·马里尼奥表示，解雇劳工监察负责人路易斯·费利佩·布兰多·德梅洛只是一次常规人事调整，但拒绝说明此举是否与比亚迪有关。“Changes are natural, they happen,” Mr. Marinho told The New York Times in an interview. “It’s my responsibility as minister to assemble a team.”“人事调整是很正常的事情，总会发生，”马里尼奥在接受《纽约时报》采访时说。“组建团队是我作为部长的责任。”But to labor groups and government watchdogs, the timing of Mr. Mello’s departure raised alarms.但对于劳工团体和政府监督机构来说，德梅洛在这个节骨眼上离职令人警觉。Just before he was let go, Mr. Mello had signed off on BYD’s inclusion on a “dirty list” of labor offenders after an investigation concluded the company had violated human rights at a construction site in northeastern Brazil. There, Chinese employees building one of its plants were found living in squalid conditions and working over 10 hours per day, with almost no days off.就在被解职前不久，德梅洛刚批准将比亚迪列入“黑名单”，此前一项调查得出结论，该公司在巴西东北部的一处建筑工地存在侵犯人权的行为。在那里，为比亚迪建厂的中国工人被发现生活条件恶劣，每天工作超过10小时，几乎没有休息日。Workers were lured into the jobs with promises of higher salaries, the investigation found, and were not free to end their contracts or leave the site. In a crackdown in late 2024, the Brazilian authorities ultimately removed more than 160 workers from what they said were slave-like conditions, which BYD has blamed on a subcontractor.调查发现，工人们被高薪承诺引诱到这些工作岗位，但他们实际上无法自由解除合同或离开工地。在2024年底的一次执法行动中，巴西当局最终将160多名工人从其所称的类似奴役的条件下解救出来。比亚迪则将责任归咎于一家分包商。卡马萨里的比亚迪工厂建设工地的一名工人，摄于去年。Under Brazilian law, companies found to engage in such labor practices must be added to the registry within several months. Ahead of a deadline in early April, Mr. Mello added BYD to the list.根据巴西法律，被认定存在此类用工行为的企业必须在数月内被列入名单。在4月初的最后期限到来之前，德梅洛将比亚迪加到了名单上。On April 8, at the request of the Chinese automaker, a labor court agreed to suspend the decision pending further judicial review of whether BYD can be held responsible for its contractors. Then, on Monday, Brazil announced Mr. Mello’s dismissal in the official government gazette.4月8日，应这家中国汽车制造商的要求，一家劳工法院同意暂停该决定，等待进一步司法审查，以确定比亚迪是否应对其承包商的行为承担责任。随后，巴西于周一在政府公报上宣布了德梅洛解职的消息。The move made headlines, causing an outcry from labor groups. Brazil’s national association of labor inspectors accused the minister of political meddling and called Mr. Mello’s firing “a serious sign of institutional retaliation.”此事登上了新闻头条，引发劳工团体的强烈抗议。巴西全国劳工监察员协会指责劳工部长存在政治干预行为，并称解雇德梅洛是“严重的体制报复信号”。“He was obeying the law and fulfilling his duty,” said Rodrigo Carvalho, the association’s national coordinator. “This turns a technical public policy decision into a political one.”“他是在依法行事、履行自己的职责，”该协会全国协调员罗德里戈·卡瓦略表示，“这把一个技术性的公共政策决定变成了政治决定。”Mr. Marinho dismissed accusations of political interference, insisting that he does not seek to aid any company and works to ensure technical decisions made by his team are sound.劳工部长马里尼奥否认了政治干预的指控，坚称自己并未试图帮助任何公司，而是致力于确保其团队所作出的技术性决定是合理的。Mr. Mello did not respond to a request for comment.德梅洛没有回应置评请求。BYD also did not respond to a request for comment. In the past, it has shifted blame for conditions at the Brazil site to a subcontractor in charge of the construction, saying it no longer does business with the company.比亚迪也未回应置评请求。此前，该公司曾将巴西工地的相关问题归咎于负责施工的分包商，并表示已终止了与对方的合作。This week, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry sidestepped questions about BYD’s human rights record in Brazil, saying that China “attaches great importance to protecting the lawful rights and interests of workers” and is working with Brazil on the issue.本周，中国外交部发言人回避了有关比亚迪在巴西违反人权的提问，仅表示中国“高度重视保障劳动者合法权益”，并正在与巴西就该问题开展合作。Appearing on Brazil’s list of slavery offenders can carry serious consequences for companies, damaging their reputation, barring them from certain bank loans and making them less appealing to investors.被列入巴西的奴役劳动名单会给企业带来严重后果，损害其声誉，使其无法获得某些银行贷款，并降低对投资者的吸引力。圣保罗的一家比亚迪经销店。巴西是中国电动汽车的巨大市场。Brazil, a car-loving country of 213 million, is BYD’s biggest market outside China. In recent years, Chinese electric vehicles have surged in popularity in Brazil, Latin America’s largest nation, now representing about 80 percent of the E.V. market.巴西是一个有2.13亿人口、热爱汽车的国家，是比亚迪在中国以外最大的市场。近年来，中国电动汽车在拉丁美洲最大国家巴西迅速走红，目前约占其电动汽车市场80%的份额。The firestorm set off by Mr. Mello’s firing adds to the scrutiny surrounding Mr. Marinho, who has been an ally of Mr. Lula since their days as union organizers on the outskirts of São Paulo.围绕德梅洛解职所引发的风波也加剧了外界对劳工部长马里尼奥的审视。自上世纪在圣保罗郊区一起从事工会组织工作时起，马里尼奥就是卢拉的盟友。Last year, Mr. Marinho stepped in to prevent several companies from being added to the slavery registry, including a division of the Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS. The legality of his actions is being challenged in Brazil’s Supreme Court.去年，马里尼奥曾出面阻止多家公司被列入奴役劳动名单，其中包括巴西肉类加工巨头JBS的一个部门。他这一行为的合法性目前正在巴西最高法院受到质疑。With just months to go before a presidential election, the most recent episode threatens to tarnish Mr. Lula’s image as a defender of workers, an issue that for decades has formed the backbone of his political reputation.在距离总统选举仅剩数月之际，最近的这一事件有可能损害卢拉作为工人捍卫者的形象——这一形象数十年来一直是其政治声望的核心支柱。A former metalworker with a fifth-grade education, Mr. Lula rose to prominence as a union leader in the 1970s and 1980s, leading tens of thousands of workers in a series of strikes defying the military dictatorship at the time.卢拉曾是一名仅受过小学五年级教育的金属工人，20世纪70年代至80年代，他作为工会领袖崭露头角，领导数万名工人发起一系列罢工，反抗当时的军事独裁统治。Inspired by his work as a union organizer, Mr. Lula co-founded the Workers’ Party in 1980. Promising to represent workers’ interests, he was elected to the national legislature in 1986 and, propelled by populist support, rose to the presidency in 2003 for the first time.受工会组织经历的启发，卢拉于1980年与他人一起创立了工人党，承诺代表工人利益。他在1986年当选为国会议员，并在民粹主义支持的推动下，于2003年首次当选总统。Yet his party has lost much of its shine in recent decades, and Mr. Lula now faces the prospects of a tough race as he seeks a fourth term as president in an unpredictable national election this October.然而，近年来，工人党失去了往昔的光环。在今年10月充满不确定性的全国大选中，卢拉寻求第四个总统任期，如今他面临着一场艰苦的竞选。Keith Bradsher自北京对本文有报道贡献、Ruoxin Zhang有研究贡献。Ana Ionova自里约热内卢为时报撰稿，报道巴西和近邻国家新闻。翻译：纽约时报中文网点击查看本文英文版。