How they see us: Secret Service scandal hurts Colombia

This scandal has revealed our worst-kept secret: Colombia is a top destination for sex tourism.

The Secret Service prostitution scandal has been “one bungle after another,” said Germán Danilo Hernández in the Cartagena, Colombia, Universal. Most of the errors were on the part of the Americans. You could argue that the first mistake was made by the agents themselves, in securing the services of prostitutes when they were supposed to be planning security for President Barack Obama’s visit to Cartagena for the Summit of the Americas. But buying sexual services is obviously “a routine matter for U.S. military men all over the world.” Just look at the sheer number of half-American children left behind wherever the military has been deployed. No, the real mistake was in failing to pay the prostitutes what they were owed. It was only the loud dispute over payment that brought the matter to the attention of Colombian and American authorities.

The unprofessionalism of the Americans “is truly shocking,” said María Isabel Rueda in El Tiempo. The Secret Service is supposed to be made up of people who cannot be compromised. The threat of assassination, a possibility for all world leaders, is ever-present for U.S. presidents—after all, four of them were killed in office, and many more had near misses. What if one of the Colombian prostitutes had been trying to steal something from one of the president’s bodyguards? Or if a Colombian mafioso was planning to blackmail them?

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