Of Sexual Blunders

The international scandal that wound up obscuring the results of the sixth Summit of the Americas, thanks to the uncontrolled libido of a group of Secret Service agents, is a compendium of blunders in the exercise of politics, diplomacy, security, morality and even journalism.

It is routine for North American military men to entangle themselves in nights of alcohol and sex during their tours of the world, regardless of whether they are involved in war, humanitarian missions or the protection of dignitaries. Many of Hollywood’s cinematographic productions have been inspired by the furtive affairs of soldiers in brothels, amidst explosions and complex webs of espionage.

The children, accepted or denied, of North American marines in the countries in which Uncle Sam has intervened militarily are another indicator of the battles fought between the sheets by men at arms. The horizontal activities of Secret Service agents in the seductive nights of Cartagena wouldn’t even have been news, had it not been for the colossal clumsiness of some of them. These agents ended up bringing to light the poor behavior of all and subjected one of the most important security organizations in the world to universal ridicule. At the same time, they cast doubt on the president of the United States, right in the middle of his campaign for reelection.

The clumsy act of an agent, arriving blind drunk to the center of strategic operations for the security of the most politically important man in the world — accompanied by a prostitute, only to try to dodge the bill — led to a series of blunders that has still not fully played out.

Equally sloppy was the reaction of the Secret Service itself. Despite the stealth with which it investigates serious accusations against its members in other parts of the world, it left the whoring agents with their pants down and exposed them to the summit’s media. There was no need to wait several years for WikiLeaks to reveal the secret files of the investigation.

The gaffes continued with President Obama’s decision to speak about the episode instead of what he didn’t want to speak about at the Summit: The return of Cuba to the Organization of American States, Argentine sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and the legalization of drugs. With his permission, furtive sex gained more prominence than international politics.

After the wave of blunders, some government and union spokesmen tried to deny the episode had even occurred, while others professed ignorance of the unconcealed supply of sex in the tourist market of Cartagena, similar to or greater than that of other large world destinations.

The media also contributed to the blunders that characterize this international scandal. Not only did they demonstrate that the exploitation of morbid fascination and basic instincts sell better than investigating what implications the decisions made at the Summit will have on the continent, but they allowed the sexual indiscretions of the secret agents to overshadow other indiscretions that could have made the news.