Showing posts with label mac virus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mac virus. Show all posts

Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Secret Service Scandal Rocks Obama Trip

Up to a dozen secret service agents in Colombia to visit President Barack Obama was dismissed from his post due to accusations of wrongdoing.

The Secret Service did not specify the charges, but said they had no impact on the safety of the president, who arrived in the country on Friday for a weekend at the Summit of the Americas.

Associated Press reports that the charges were prostitutes. A senior official told Fox News, they were severe enough to require the mediation of diplomats.

"There have been allegations of misconduct against members of security services in Cartagena, Colombia, before traveling president. For this reason, these people are released from their duties, returned to his job, and are replaced by other security services," Edwin Donovan, a representative of the Secret Service, said in a statement.

"The Secret Service takes all allegations of serious violations. This matter was fully submitted to our office of professional responsibility, which serves as an internal component of the Agency for," said Donovan. "These changes will not affect the overall security plan, which was prepared in anticipation of the visit of the president."

Donovan would not release details, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the incident.

The story broke as Obama prepares to take part in a gala dinner with more than 30 leaders gathered for a summit.

Security guards were a little on edge on Friday night because of reports of small explosions in Cartagena and Bogota, about 400 miles to the south. Minor explosions have occurred in Bogota near the U.S. Embassy. There were no reports of injuries in the accident.

John Adler, president of the Association of the Federal Act for employees, Washington Post, confirmed that the agent was associated with prostitutes. Adler later told the AP, he was not aware of specific violations, if he had heard allegations of prostitution.

Cartagena, a city with a history of problems associated with prostitution, that progress in the fight, and several non-governmental organizations involved in trying to eradicate the sex trade there.

Cartagena Mayor Campo Elías Terán said in a radio interview earlier this week that plans for the summit was to move the homeless to further limit the presence of prostitutes in some areas of the city where it is limited to the legalization of prostitution.

The president said Friday that he intends to use the trip to discuss trade policy and look to open markets for American goods, but note that to be distracted by allegations of misconduct.

Whenever the president travels, the contingent of officers above him on the leg of the route, check out the site and make sure that Obama can be properly monitored. "Advance team" may consist of dozens of agents who perform all kinds of roles, from IT professionals to identify threats and ammunition.

Although there have been several incidents recently president of information - a member of the Obama security team, was arrested in Iowa last summer on suspicion of drunk driving, as well as federal agent for the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security has been charged with second-degree murder after shooting man in Honolulu at the end of last year.

But the Secret Service did not have a big scandal, because agents do not comply with the relevant security protocols and allow free riders to the state dinner at the White House in 2009. Three officers have been placed on leave after the incident, and the White House social secretary at the time, Desiree Rogers, resigned from his post.

According to the president, after the scandal that although "the system does not work as expected," he felt safe and trust the agency to protect his family.

"I could not have more confidence in the Secret Service," Obama said today the United States at the time.

Secret Service Agents staying in Colombia to Provide Security for Barack Obama at Cartagena Summit Are Sent Home

Secret service agents sent home after Colombia prostitution allegations: US secret service agents sent to provide security for Barack Obama at a summit in Colombia have been sent home after allegations of heavy drinking and consorting with prostitutes.

Spokesman Edwin Donovan said the agents involved were relieved from duty and replaced with other agency personnel. "These personnel changes will not affect the comprehensive security plan that has been prepared in advance of the president's trip," Donovan said on Friday night.

Donovan said the allegations of misconduct were related to activity before the president arrived in Cartagena on Friday afternoon.

The agents at the centre of the allegations had stayed at Cartagena's Hotel Caribe. Several members of the White House staff and press corps were also staying at the hotel.

A hotel employee said the agents arrived at the beachfront hotel about a week ago and drank heavily during their stay. They were sent home on Thursday after they were admonished by a supervisor.

Jon Adler, the president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, which represents secret service agents, told the Washington Post the accusations related to at least one agent having involvement with prostitutes in Cartagena.

Ronald Kessler, a former Post reporter and the author of a book about the secret service, told the paper that he had learned that 12 agents were involved, several of them married.

On Friday evening, Obama attended a leaders' dinner at Cartagena's historic Spanish fortress.

He was due to attend meetings with regional leaders on Saturday and Sunday. More than 30 presidents and prime ministers are attending the summit. Obama is expected to be on the defensive over issues including drug legalisation, which his administration opposes, the US insistence on excluding Cuba from the conference and his opposition to Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands.

Many Latin American leaders have insisted that this is the last summit which Cuba will not attend. The US, supported by Canada, continues to insist on the embargo on Cuba, first instituted after the revolution in 1959.

Obama will have to battle declining influence in what Washington has long considered its backyard. China has surpassed the US in trade with Brazil, Chile, and Peru and is a close second in Argentina and Colombia.

Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based thinktank, noted in a pre-summit report: "Most countries of the region view the United States as less and less relevant to their needs and with declining capacity to propose and carry out strategies to deal with the issues that most concern them."

Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia, told a meeting of business leaders in Cartagena on Friday that the US was distracted by its commitments in Asia. "The United States should realise that its long-term strategic interests are not in Afghanistan or in Pakistan but in Latin America."