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Summit sex scandal takes shine off Colombia efforts

(Reuters) – Gracing the cover of the latest Time

magazine and trumpeting his nation’s security achievements, President Juan Manuel Santos had hoped the Summit of the

Americas would showcase the modern face of Colombia.

Prostitutes walk a street of the old city, as heads of 

state met for the Americas Summit in Cartagena April 14, 2012. Headlines from this weekend's gathering of more than 30 heads 

of state have focused on an embarrassing scandal after members of U.S. President Barack Obama's security detail were caught 

with prostitutes in historic Cartagena. Picture taken April 14. REUTERS/Joaquin Sarmiento

Yet global media coverage from this weekend’s gathering of more than 30 heads of state has focused

instead on a scandal after members of U.S. President Barack Obama’s security detail were caught with prostitutes in historic

Cartagena.

The hotel incident – which has seen 11 Secret Service agents sent home and five servicemen grounded –

outraged Colombians proud of their often-vilified country’s push to become a major regional player.

“Colombia is not

just prostitutes, drugs and violence, it’s much more than that,” said Maria Fernanda Martinez, 35, a Colombian tourist on

vacation in Cartagena. “There are many better things to show the world.”

U.S. soldiers and contractors backing

Colombia in its fight against drug traffickers and Marxist insurgents have in the past been involved in sex scandals in rural

areas near army bases.

A largely successful decade-old offensive against the rebels and cocaine cartels has allowed

Colombia to begin shedding its international notoriety for violence and crime.

“The Colombian Comeback” was how Time

put it, below a black-and-white portrait of Santos on its latest edition. “From nearly failed state to emerging global player

– in less than a decade.”

“HOW SHAMEFUL”

Headlines over the weekend, however, were less flattering for the host

of the Organization of American States (OAS) meeting.

“The only media coverage of the summit is the scandal of the

gringos and the prostitutes,” said one Colombian diplomat based in Europe, who asked not to be named. “How

shameful.”

Details of the saga unfolded just as the heads of state began discussing weighty issues such as trade

protectionism, Cuba and the war on

drugs.

“I never thought the summit agenda had much hope of being achieved,” former opposition presidential candidate

Carlos Gaviria told Reuters. “But it turned into more of a media sideshow, a ridiculous distraction, than a serious political

meeting of presidents.”

The incident unfolded when the Americans brought a number of prostitutes back to a beachfront

hotel near where Obama was due to stay when he arrived the following day, a local police source said.

At least one

member of the security contingent flashed his badge and demanded that hotel staff allow him to remain with a woman, the

source said.

Prostitution is legal in “tolerance zones” in Colombia, though also widely practiced outside those areas

without sanction.

Cartagena residents, who had hoped to project an image of warmth and hospitality to the world,

tutted their disapproval.

“This links Cartagena with prostitution and that’s not fair,” said Maria Consuelo Ortega,

33, who works in a store in the colonial quarter of the city.

“How can it be forgotten when it’s linked to

Obama?”

(Additional reporting by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Brian

Ellsworth and Xavier

Briand)

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Summit sex scandal takes shine off Colombia efforts

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