Following Inca Kola News Post is the article referred to by IKN
And, here's the link to the State Dept. report
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2009/index.htm"6/16/09
The US Human Trafficking Report 2009: Whatever makes you think it's political?
The USA sometimes tries to make out the "equal partners" thing with the rest of the Americas and sometimes it doesn't. You get The Hawaiian making some lip service to the greater cause at the moment, but when push comes to shove and the bureaucrats are let loose, those old habits of arrogance, selective memory based on friendships and high-handedness towards "the brown people down there" shine on through.
Today the US State Department's ninth annual "Trafficking in Persons Report" was published, and here's how the region stacks up in the eyes of TheWorldPoliceman™
Level One (complies with all, we luvs ya): Colombia
Level Two (not up to scratch but we see you're making an effort, try a bit harder, boyz): Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay.
Level Three (hmmm..not so good, kiddies. We're watching you so don't so anything stupid): Argentina, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Rep Dom, Venezuela
Level Four (bad bad bad naughty naughty sanctions sanctions): Cuba
But the biggest guilty party on human trafficking is left off the list completely. The country where many labour and sex slaves are sent by their paymasters and blind eyes are turned. Go on....take a wild guess as to which one.
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Labels: Latin America, state department, Trafficking in Persons Report, USA"
http://incakolanews.blogspot.com/2009/06/us-human-trafficking-report-2009.html"US expands human trafficking watchlist
By MATTHEW LEE – 3 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration on Tuesday expanded the U.S. watchlist of countries suspected of not doing enough to combat human trafficking, putting more than four dozen nations on notice that they might face sanctions unless their records improve.
The State Department's annual "Trafficking in Persons Report," the first released since President Barack Obama took office, placed 52 countries and territories — mainly in Africa, Asia and the Middle East — on the watchlist. That number is a 30 percent jump from the 40 countries on the list in 2008.
Several previously cited nations were removed from the list, but new countries cited for human trafficking problems include Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Iraq, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Senegal and the United Arab Emirates.
The report also placed the Netherlands' Antilles, a self-governing Dutch territory in the Caribbean, on the watchlist.
"With this report, we hope to shine the light brightly on the scope and scale of modern slavery so all governments can see where progress has been made and where more is needed," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said as she released the 320-page document.
Inclusion on the watchlist means those countries' governments are not fully complying with minimum standards set by U.S. law for cooperating in efforts to reduce the rise of human trafficking — a common denominator in the sex trade, coerced labor and recruitment of child soldiers.
If a country appears on the list for two consecutive years, it can be subject to U.S. sanctions.
Seventeen nations, up from 14 in 2008, are now subject to the trafficking sanctions, which can include a ban on non-humanitarian and trade-related aid and U.S. opposition to loans and credits from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The penalties can be waived if the president determines it is in U.S. national interest to do so.
Those 17 countries include traditional U.S. foes like Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan and Syria, but also American allies and friends such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Malaysia, another U.S. partner, was added to the list of worst offenders as were Zimbabwe, Chad, Eritrea, Mauritania, Niger, and Swaziland."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jL-WKvcjH2133nIShCVWKweYOPQAD98RRO280
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