A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department claimed that they’ve already apologized to Colombia for this month’s Cartagena prostitution scandal involving Secret Service agents and military personnel.
Victoria Nuland said U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized to Colombian officials “when we were in Cartagena on the very day” the incident was uncovered.
Colombia’s ambassador in Washington, Gabriel Silva demanded a stronger apology for the scandal Wednesday, which he feels has tainted Cartagena’s reputation internationally.
“The U.S. should apologize further. It is necessary and I want to hear it from the White House. A more clear expression of remorse is required to protect the reputation of Cartagena,” said Silva.
He called news coverage of the incident “superficial, sensationalist and unfair,” in an interview with newspaper El Tiempo.
Cartagena’s Mayor Campo Elias Teran Dix accepted Obama’s apology Friday but insisted that the U.S. promote a more positive image of the city after negative press in American media outlets.
The scandal, which was first reported on April 14, involved 12 Secret Service agents hiring 21 prostitutes in the Carribean coastal city, a destination for sex tourism in Colombia, the day before Barack Obama’s arrival for the Summit of the Americas.
“We are trying to hold our employess to the high standards expected of them when they have a U.S. Government security clearance and when they’re employed by the U.S. Government in an official capacity overseas,” said Nuland in a White House press briefing.
President Obama called the Secret Service men “knuckleheads” on American TV for their inappropriate conduct.