Interesting , albeit scathing, review of the Colombia trip

[Camillo]

This was posted on Reddit, its in Spanish so needs to be translated, says exactly what most people have been saying of their 'tours' and this Colombia trip in particular.. This journalist nailed it.

I guess Harpers Bazaar nor People magazine will be reporting what most people REALLY thought of their trip.

https://blogs.elespectador.com/actualidad/pletora/francia-marquez-los-conoci-en-netflix/

A few notable excerpts (google translated)

During their visit, they acted as luxury tourists:

Why did Francia Márquez decide to invite the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to do "humanitarian tourism"? The answer seems unlikely, exit from Creole stand-up comedy. At a press conference, the vice president revealed her motivation: "I met Meghan and Harry through the media, but above all I watched the Netflix documentary .

Márquez, as a dazzled fan and a capricious girl, used her power as vice president to meet the media stars that moved her. It's like watching a bad gringa comedy in real life.

Harry and Meghan's visit was, in essence, a spectacle of neo-colonialism

Although the forum had quality experts and panelists, Harry and Meghan's participation contributed the same thing as their visit to the school: nothing.

the children of La Boquilla were reduced to marketing objects to enhance the public image of the dukes,

the dukes, experts in upbringing and culture, offered local parents valuable advice on how to raise their children in the midst of a reality that Harry and Meghan could hardly imagine. WTF!

The visit lasted an hour; it was a "flash", they took longer to come and go.

the dukes acted as white salvationists,

Meghan Markle attended the summit "Women of African descent and Power: Voices of Equity" in Cali, where her interventions were limited to clichés and banalities typical of a self-improvement coach.

This I found very funny...........The couple got married and as is the case in many families, Meghan disliked her husband's grandmother, her in-laws and her brother-in-law, due to her race and temperament incompatible with her brother-in-law's wife,

Without notable skills or professions, they sell their image

The reality is that the only beneficiaries were the dukes,

A very succinct review, I wonder if Harry and Meghan are listening ? Are they reading the room about how their trips are viewed ?

Why do people who are not British citizens post such negative things about the RF here ?

@lazybrownfox why do you think I am not a British citizen? Is it my user name?
I am by the way.

There is continuing speculation both inside and outside of Colombia.

There is talk now of 'international agencies' which is a puzzle. What does this mean?

There is also intrigue as to the 'socio-emotional gym'. Is it connected to the organization that Harry works for and promotes, for example? The "Better Up". It is not something that most people seem to have heard of and so it might be a launch of an idea of some kind, but is it a good idea and one that Colombia needs?

Oh i don’t think that’s likely!!

Why would they do that? They were invited by the VP alleged to highlight Colombia’s work with internet safety and something to do with Invictus in the side I don’t think they would have paid to randomly go to Colombia

I wouldn’t have thought so but who really knows 🤷🏻‍♀️

The only thing I've seen about their share of the bill confirmed that they and their staff paid for their travel to Colombia. I've seen nothing about their in-country costs

I don’t think their motives are altruistic 🤷‍♀️

Is it? The cost of protection which ordinary people couldn't afford! Security standing with Kevlar shields around them ? Hardly encouraging.

Let's be honest here the Sussexes will only go to places where they are paid to go. They are like a prostitute - available to the highest bidder.

It'll only be a win if there is faster growth than currently expected in tourist numbers over the next year or so.

And I doubt anyone will really be looking to see if that happens

I don't think I said I was referring to you? I was referring to the many non British people who come on here and show their lack of knowledge by misspellings, wrong phrases, misuse of titles etc.

There are more questions than answers arising from the trip and these “statements” afterward from the different parties, perhaps?

Colombia does have a form of freedom of information law, so perhaps Colombian journalists will find out through this way who has paid for what and who these “international agencies” are. I myself am curious where that original statement came from (if anyone knows) and what language it was in. Did it really say “international agencies”, if in Spanish? There’s often an interesting linguistic trail that translators can find.

I don’t know about that, we saw absolutely nothing of the country itself, no promotion of beautiful or historic areas. Also, I found the amount of security they needed was quite off putting, no interaction with local populations due to safety concerns. The political discord which is very obvious on SM, which most people would not have been aware of prior to the visit.

This is a great article.

thehill.com/opinion/national-security/4834858-harry-meghan-royal-tour-colombia/

The talk about political discord was fuelled by racism. Anyone who reads the news knows there has been some political discord for years. But it did not stop Sophie visiting. Suddenly when Harry and Meghan were visiting it became an incredibly unsafe country.
I saw more of the country in the news reporting. But I read far more widely than just the articles saying look what terrible thing Harry and Meghan are doing now. It does look a beautiful country.

Well, Sophie doesn't claim the UK is unsafe without round the clock police protection!

Sophie's visit was to highlight a very important cause and wasn't to highlight herself or her outfits, and it wasn't published until she came back.
Apples and oranges.

Ouch !!

And Sophie didn't seem to need a dozen escort cars, kevlar shield wielding armed security etc - she just got on with the job quietly and with dignity.

This is a great quote from the article from The Hill: ‘Colombia is in dire need of more than “smoke and mirrors” statecraft from a Montecito for-profit brand-oriented couple.’

So accurate. A couple of wannbe influencers tarting bout for personal gain whupe
pretending to be important. Pathetic.