Colombia : “Thailand of Latin America.”

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Secret service sex scandal: Prostitution is big business in Colombia
Jonathan Lemire
Saturday, April 14, 2012

Prostitution is legal in much of Colombia, and the abundance of sex workers has made the country the “Thailand of Latin America.”


Nightlife in Cartagena: Prostitution is common in the old parts of the city at night.
Kike Calvo/AP

Cartagena, Colombia, is a gorgeous seaside city known for tropical breezes, beautiful beaches — and a thriving sex tourism industry.

Prostitution is legal in much of Colombia, and the abundance of sex workers has made the country the “Thailand of Latin America,” as well as an alluring destination for randy foreign visitors.

Among those who allegedly succumbed to the nation’s temptations were federal agents assigned to protect President Obama — but who instead tried to be secretly serviced.

Secret Service agents busted because they refused to pay hooker: source

Though technically prostitution is limited to so-called “tolerance zones” in certain Colombian cities, local authorities rarely restrict the activity to brothels, according to a U.S. State Department advisory.

Hookers can readily be found in hotels, bars and parks, especially in tourist-friendly cities like Cartagena, Barranquilla and Bogota.

Marriage and dating services in Cartagena — a popular destination for North Americans and Europeans — are often fronts for sex tourism, according to U.S. officials. Many hotels keep rooms available for prostitutes to use by the hour — and get a cut of the profit in return.

Websites and ads in clubs advertise hookers for hire, while one Colombian women’s advocacy group released a study estimating that one in two people on Cartagena streets after dark are in the sex trade.

nydailynews.com

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