The New York Times just posted what it says are the first public comments from the Colombian woman whose argument with a U.S. Secret Service agent last week revealed the so-called summit scandal.
That's the still-developing story that 11 agents and nine U.S. military personnel, who were in Cartagena as part of the "advance" team before President Obama arrived to attend a summit with Latin American leaders, had been cavorting with about 20 prostitutes.
According to the Times, the woman (who it did not name) claims that the morning after their partying at a club and her stay at the hotel where the Americans were staying, the agent "offered $30 for services she thought they had agreed were worth 25 times that."
"I tell him, 'Baby, my cash money,' " she told the Times. It was their subsequent argument that led to local police becoming involved and the exposure of the partying.
A few other details from the Times' report:
-- " 'They never told me they were with Obama,' she said of the agents. 'They were very discreet.' "
-- "The price alone, she said, indicates that she is an escort, not a prostitute.
-- "She was dismayed, she said, that the news reports have described her as a prostitute as though she walked the streets picking up just anyone. 'It's the same but it's different,' she said, indicating that she is much more selective about her clients and charges much more than a streetwalker. 'It's like when you buy a fine rum or a BlackBerry or an iPhone. They have a different price.' "
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