Locals from the northern Colombian village of Turbaco organized a massive donkeyback ride Wednesday to remind U.S. president Barack Obama of his long-outstanding invitation to visit their town.
Dozens of Obama-loyal locals and more than 50 donkeys from the tiny town took part in the ride to demand international media attention for their invite to the U.S. president, which they have been making for years. The march was headed by “Demo,” a young donkey the locals want to give to their North American hero.
“We want to give Demo, the little donkey, to Obama in the days before the Summit,” the town’s former mayor, Silvio Carrasquilla, told RCN Radio weeks ago, but apparently with no response with only days left before the summit starts Saturday.
Demo “has already been given all its vaccinations and is ready and able to be taken,” Carrasquilla assured newspaper El Tiempo during Wednesday’s march.
Apart from getting the U.S. head of state his own donkey, the locals went as far as turning Obama’s former election campaign center into a White House which is fronted by a massive banner saying “Obama, welcome to Turbaco.”
“We are awaiting the visit of the guest of honor, President Barack Obama, in the White House. We have already begun the procedures at the Foreign Ministry and the [Colombian] President’s Office.”
Turbaco is located at four miles of the coastal city of Cartagena, where Obama is expected to arrive on Friday for the 6th Summit of the Americas.
Turbaco hit the national headlines for their Obama madness a number of times. Back in 2008 when Obama was still running for the presidency, Carrasquilla built a Democratic Party election campaign center in the village to offer international support to the then-candidate, again extending a warm invitation to visit. The town even held a mirror election, which Obama won with an astounding 1000-vote advantage over his then-opponent John McCain.
In August 2009, the town celebrated Obama’s 48th birthday with another donkey, mariachis, two cakes with the U.S. flag on it and a self-made portrait of Obama to be given on the U.S. president’s first visit to the village.
The pending visit seems to have become a matter of now or never as neither U.S. nor Colombian authorities have responded to the invitation.