WASHINGTON.- The United States included the Dominican Republic on its black list of countries where it affirms people trafficking occurs, in a report disclosed Monday, and places Venezuela, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Panama under vigilance.

The US State Department report also keeps Cuba on the black list, since 2003, because it "doesn’t fulfill the minimum parameters to eliminate people traffic and isn’t making significant efforts in that regard.”

Cuba and Dominican Republic are members of the group of 13 mostly Asian and African, countries that don’t fight people trafficking, according to the report. The communist island-nation is “mainly a source of children subject to the traffic of people, mainly for sexual commercial exploitation within the country."

For Washington Dominican Republic is "a source country, for the transit and destination of men, women and children victims of people traffic, especially for prostitution and forced labor." It had removed the country from its 2009 black list.

The report registered forced labor by Dominicans working in the United States and Argentina last year, whereas the same occurs with people from Haiti, within Dominican territory. It also removed Argentina from its list of nations under observation this year.