Harry and Meghan’s tour of Colombia ‘squandered public money’, says local councilman
A Colombian councilman has accused the vice president of “squandering public money” on “vanity” in the wake of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s quasi royal tour of the country.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex ended their four-day trip in the former cartel city of Cali with a jubilant evening of cheering and dancing, but not everyone was enthralled by their visit.
The security chief of the city council took to social media to criticise the event, claiming billions of pesos had been used to host them which “could have been used to expand coverage of children’s canteens, pay salaries of community mothers, seed capital for Afro communities or adapt sports venues practically in ruins”.
Andrés Escobar also accused the vice president Francia Marquez, who travelled with Meghan and Harry across the country, of “squandering public money on her vanity” and added that taxes have been on “photo opportunities and social media”.
While it has not been confirmed how much the trip cost overall, it is understood the cost of security was shouldered by the vice president’s office.
During the trip, the duke and duchess met with Invictus athletes, sat on panels to discuss online safety, and female empowerment.
Upon arrival in the country on Thursday, the pair were whisked to Marquez’s private residence, where it was revealed their invitation had been prompted by Marquez enjoying their Netflix documentary.
Escobar expressed his disbelief at the comment, as he told the MailOnline: “The vice president asked them here because she saw them on Netflix, can you believe that? How ridiculous, I can’t believe she said that.
“This country could have used the money to invest in our own infrastructure, we are in a bad way and money is wasted for this.”
Colombia ranks second after Brazil in Latin America for economic inequality with 16,708,153, people declared to be living in a situation of monetary poverty in 2023, according to Oxfam and DANE (Colombia’s National Administrative Department of Statistics).
