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.