Hillary Clinton tears up the dance floor, down some beer on Colombia trip

Apr 15, 2012 - 18:35
Apr 15, 2012 - 18:55
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Hillary Clinton tears up the dance floor, down some beer on Colombia trip
While in Cartagena, Colombia, for a summit, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton got a chance to bust some after-hours moves to a local cover band, African Charanga.

The former First Lady danced and downed a few gulps of local beer after a post-midnight stop at a crowded club in Cartagena, Colombia.

Photographers caught the Secretary of State — in town for the Summit of the Americas — dancing and generally having a good time early Sunday inside a bar called La Havana.

At one point, she worked the dance floor while waving homemade maracas — seed-filled cannisters — purchased from a local entrepreneur, according to the Colombian paper El Universal.

Clinton, dressed in black and wearing a wide grin, mingled easily with the late-night crowd after security escorted her and the rest of the entourage inside at about 12:45 a.m.

Waiters and the bar's owner told the paper that Clinton danced to live music by a Colombian cover band, African Charanga, and enjoyed the local brew Aguila.

Her table, with a party of more than a dozen, left a generous $40 tip for waiter Alejandro Puello — who was stunned to find himself slinging drinks for the one-time New York senator.

Team Clinton’s bar tab included a dozen beers, two whiskeys and several bottles of water, before Hillary and her crew headed for home after a 30-minute stay.

Owner Mauricio Aimone said Clinton, who took three swigs of beer during a toast at her table, was the most famous patron to visit his bar since it opened five years ago.

The Obama administration official’s impromptu night on the town sent surprised press photographers scrambling to borrow cameras from tourists in the bar.

Clinton wasn’t the only one to find fans waiting for her in South America.

Local politician Silvio Carrasquilla, who bills himself as President Obama’s No. 1 booster in Colombia, made a valiant effort to provide the U.S. leader with a gift: A donkey clad in red, white and blue.

The braying present, dubbed ”Demo, was meant to symbolize Obama’s Democratic Party. Carrasquilla was the former mayor of Turbaco, a town near Cartagena — but that wasn’t enough to gain an audience with Obama.

The light moments came amid a tense visit during which Secret Service men purportedly hired hookers as the President defended controversial U.S. policies — including the insistence on excluding Cuba.

 

Fun: Clinton can be seen dancing with her hands in the air and swinging back a bottle of beer at the Colombian nightclub known for its salsa dancing

Fun: Mrs Clinton can be seen dancing with her hands in the air and swigging back a bottle of beer at the salsa hotspot

Party animal: The former Senator for New York ditched her trademark scrunchie and let her hair loose, opting for for a more laid back look

Party animal: The former Senator for New York ditched her trademark scrunchie and let her hair loose, opting for a more laid back look

 

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Mike Gallagher Freelance writer with a passion for travelling