“Oh, Obama, they left you all alone, they ditched you to take care of Colombian girls.” These are the lyrics to a newly-created jingle in Colombia. Very catchy.
As the lyrics so minimally explain, President Barack Obama traveled down to Colombia with members of his Secret Service. President Obama’s trip, from April 14-15, was to attend the Summit of the Americas, a gathering of government officials from the Western Hemisphere to discuss mutual issues, values and challenges in the imminent future. This past summit, held in Cartagena, Colombia, was the sixth since it began in 1994.
While in Colombia, 11 of President Obama’s Secret Service agents engaged in sexual acts with prostitutes from Cartagena. The scandal gained publicity when one of the involved agents was accused of refusing to pay an escort the $800 he owed her for her sexual services. Since then, the story has spiraled into a tabloid firestorm, disgracefully gracing the front pages of newspapers around the world.
After these agents, who are supposed to be our most trustworthy and responsible citizens, committed these inappropriate and shameful acts, Spirit Airlines put out a disrespectful ad targeting the values of Colombia. This ad furthered the ill-mannered behavior, while also rudely suggesting that such tasteless mannerisms are indicative of the Colombian people.
This is not the case. The United States, and more specifically Obama and his administration, need to take sole responsibility for what happened in Colombia just a few weeks ago. The fact that one of the America’s own airlines put out this ad to take advantage of the incident is just plain immature.
The ad reads, “More bang for your buck.” Although comical at first, the intentions of this ad cannot be taken as just a light joke for the people of Colombia. Many people view this ad as a completely unfair depiction of Colombia. I believe it greatly tarnishes the country’s reputation, which should actually be improving.
In my opinion, America is the country that should be ridiculed. The actions that took place in Colombia degrade Obama and all of the people who seek to protect our president and indirectly, our country.
While the ad does put the emphasis on sex and prostitution in Colombia, it shouldn’t humiliate that country. The incident should humiliate ours.
We are the ones to blame, and we are the ones who should be disgraced. Spirit Airlines, all of the agents and Obama should be ashamed and apologetic of their decisions abroad.