It was diplomats gone wild in Colombia last night, as Hillary Clinton partied like it was spring break — knocking back a beer and tearing up the dance floor to Cuban music at a local club.
The secretary of state was photographed blowing off steam with a small group of bodyguards and about 12 pals at Cafe Havana in the seaside resort town Cartagena to toast the end of the VI Summit of the Americas, which closes today.
Arriving at the club just after midnight, the former First Lady and her entourage took over its last remaining table. Clinton quickly proved she’s just a regular gal when it comes to drinking — she eschewed a glass and sucked down her Aguila pilsner cerveza straight from the bottle.
Clinton dances the rhumba. (AFP/Getty Images)
In all, the group ordered a dozen beers, two glasses of whiskey and bottles of water.
Smiling broadly, Clinton even got up and danced the rhumba as the 11-musician band played a series of Cuban rhythms, according to local reports of the party.
Clinton’s choice of a Cuban-themed club raised some eyebrows, as the US’s decades-old isolation of Cuba was a sticking point of the summit talks. Several US allies, including Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, lashed out at the continued embargo and insisted that the Communist country be invited to the next regional summit.
The summit break came several days after 11 Secret Service agents were summoned back to Washington from Colombia and put on administrative leave after being caught in an embarrassing hooker scandal.
Clinton has some Secret Sevice agents that travel with her, but the majority of her protective detail is handled by State Department.