Dania Suarez, the woman at the center of the U.S. Secret Service prostitution scandal, said Friday the agents’ behavior was shocking and she regretted an incident which had “damaged her life.”
In a joint interview with Caracol TV and W Radio, the 24-year-old single mother insisted she would “not call herself a prostitute,” but acknowledged she had asked for “a little present” of $800 in return for sex with one of President Barack Obama’s security team.
She said the agents were complete “idiots” to act in the way they had, claiming she could have easily procured confidential information. He slept all night (…) I could have got security information if I had wanted.”
Suarez described events in the nightclub where around ten Secret Service agents got “really drunk,” in the days preceding Obama’s arrival for the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena.
Suarez said, “They were buying alcohol like it was water. They were really drunk, acting crazy,” adding that now she knew who they were she was shocked by what complete “idiots” they had been. But at the time, she said, they had fun, “dancing and laughing” for a few hours while she got closer to one of the agents, who was “good looking” and “very nice.”
She said despite the language barrier, there had been no confusion during the negotiation over payment, which took place while she and the agent were still in the club.
“He said ‘Sex?’, I said ‘Baby cash money,’ he said ‘Cuanto?’ (how much?), I said ‘Ocho ciento dollares’ ($800), he said ‘Ok ocho ciento dollares, come,'” said Suarez, adding that she had trusted the agent, which is why she had broken the golden rule of upfont payment.
But the next morning, he was a “a completely different person,” said the escort, who is now rumored to be in negotiations with Playboy and Hustler magazines. “He told me ‘Let’s go, b**ch’,” she said.
After fruitlessly arguing with him, she left the room and sought the help of a policeman who was on duty in the hotel. When she returned to the room, the man refused to open the door.
Other agents came out of their rooms and begged her in English “No police, no police, please,” said Suarez. “I told them, if you have no consideration of my situation, why should I have it for yours?”
Suarez said if she had known who the agents were, she never would have got involved with them, as this scandal had “damaged her life.” She was keen to stress that she only worked as “an escort” in order to provide a good life for her 9-year-old son.
Her whole family had been hurt by her damaged reputation, she said, claiming her depressed mother had been hospitalized due to stress.
The mother also spoke to the interviewer. “My daughter is not a prositute,” she said. “If you win, you are not a prostitute. And my daughter won.”