Labour slaves, prisoners helping build Brazil 2014 World Cup venues

SAO PAULO (AP) - Convicted bank robber Chiquinho is one of dozens of Brazilian prisoners who are helping to build and renovate the stadiums to be used for the 2014 World Cup.

The use of captive labour is a contentious issue for some, but for Chiquinho the choice was easy: spending the day in the open air cleaning Belo Horizonte's Mineirao stadium or sitting in his cell.

Former slave worker Nivaldo Inacio da Silva also had an easy decision to make: picking cotton for about US$2 (S$2.50) a day or make eight times as much as a bricklayer at another World Cup venue.

Brazil's National Council of Justice has had more than 2,200 prisoners in such work schemes, and currently there are 59 working at the 12 World Cup stadiums.