Washington. - The U.S. Government today included Iraq and Nicaragua, among others, in a list of 52 countries which it says must do more against the trafficking of people, a global phenomenon which submits millions of people to prostitution, poverty or "modern slavery."

The State Department’s annual report, first under president Barack Obama’s Administration, extends the list of countries with increasing human trafficking problems, from 40 in 2008 to 52 this year, among them Nicaragua, Iraq, the Philippines, the Dutch Antilles and the United Arab Emirates.

Nicaragua joins the list which already includes the Latin American countries Argentina, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Venezuela in 2008, and although Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, didn’t fully comply, are making significant progress" to protect the victims.

In Latin America only Colombia only adheres totally to those norms, as does Spain and the rest of Europe, Washington said.

In a press conference Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that today’s global economic crisis makes people more susceptible to deceit and be subjected to “modern slavery,” with false promises of jobs. “Millions of persons live as slaves around the world, they work in fields and factories (...) threatened with violence if they attempt to escape."