Harry and Meghan kick off last day of ‘quasi-royal’ Colombian tour

Prince Harry and Meghan will kick off their final day of their Colombian quasi royal tour by attending an Afro women in power debate – before heading off to a colorful music festival with more than 500,000 other party goers.

The Duchess of Sussex is due to give a speech at the event which will take place in the city’s main theatre and which has been surrounded – as have all the other venues – with a security ring of steel including dozens of armed police and soldiers.

Columbia has the third largest population of African descent after Nigeria and Brazil and the couple’s host for their trip is vice president Francia Marquez the first black woman to hold the position and she will show them around Cali – the city made infamous in the 90s by its drug cartel.

During it’s heyday era, law enforcement officials said the Cali Cartel was responsible foe controlling more than 80 per cent of the world’s cocaine market and were said to be responsible for the encouraging the growth of the drug in Europe making billions each year.

The cartel was eventually broken in the early 2000s when its leaders were arrested and forced to hand over more than $2 billion in assets by the US government.

The Afro women in power forum will appeal to Meghan who has referenced her Nigerian ancestry several times and Ms Marquez and her are said to have developed a ‘close bond’ in the last few days since meeting in person and have been pictured hugging warmly each time they meet.

Speaking in 2014 to Amnesty Ms Marquez said Colombia’s Afro women ‘must keep going’, despite the risks they face.

She believed women have a key role to play because their ‘caring instinct’ drives them to protect not only their children, but also their territory, the environment and their communities.

‘We need to feminize politics and fill humanity with maternal love.

‘War has always been driven by machismo, by the patriarchy and by business between men. I think these men need to stop being so aggressive in life and think about feminizing themselves.’

Meanwhile the Petronio Alvarez music festival Harry and Meghan which they will attend is the largest Afro-Colombian celebration in the country and held every August.

It opened earlier this week and ends tonight with a ‘battle of the bands’ and draws heavily on Afro-Colombian groups, with stalls selling food and dancing through the streets and the main stage is at a sports complex called Unidad Deportiva Alberto Galinda.

Since its foundation in 1997 it has evolved into a significant celebration of Afro-Colombian music and culture in Latin America.

It was aimed at uniting artists from Colombia’s Pacific coast and giving them a platform to express and celebrate their rich cultural heritage.

Ana Copete, the director of last year’s version of the festival, said at the time: ‘What this festival has done in the past 27 years is to tell Colombia and the world that we are a multi-ethnic and multicultural country.

‘We, as Afro-Colombians, have forged the identity of this country; we have built this country, hand in hand with others. And we deserve the dignity of our culture, not only as folklore but as a way of life.’

But critic Addo Obed Possu, who makes drums and other traditional instruments for the festival, was quoted in a report last year as claiming it was becoming too political.

He cited the inclusion of big acts like salsa band Grupo Niche he said had nothing to do with the musical culture, saying: ‘It takes away funds from a black musician, who comes from the deep territories of the Pacific Coast, to perform traditional music and be on the spotlight during the festival.

‘For example, with the amount of money they pay Grupo Niche, they could double the pay of each of the groups that come from the four participating regions.’

Wherever Harry and Meghan go in Colombia the same complaint always seems to follow them. 

You hear it in the narrow streets of La Candelaria in Bogota and within the ancient walled city of Cartagena 600 miles away on the country’s Caribbean coast, where the couple touched down yesterday, the latest stop on their faux royal tour.

It is that while locals are only too aware the Sussexes are in town – the excess of armed police, sirens, blocked-off roads and traffic jams are perpetual reminders – it irks that they never see them in the flesh.

‘It’s very strange, they move like ghosts,’ said Arturo, a waiter, sheltering from the Andean sun under a palm frond on Avenida Jimenez de Quesada on Thursday afternoon.

At each carefully selected venue, the duke and duchess arrive and depart unseen, invariably exiting at speed via an underground car park or hidden side street in a roaring phalanx of flashing Land Cruisers.

While their elusiveness irritates some, others in Bogota and Cartagena remain determinedly incurious – ‘they’re nothing special’ and ‘who cares?’ are common refrains.

The couple rounded off the third day of their royal tour by visiting traditional Afro-Caribbean village, San Basilio de Palenque.    

The trip to the village involved a half hour helicopter ride from Cartagena and then a 15 minute drive along a pot holed road lined with soldiers and at one point a tank.

To beat the 30c heat and humidity Meghan dressed in white linen skirt, sleeveless blouse and Panama hat. Harry had a light blue linen shirt and cream trousers and seemed uncomfortable in the heat with sweat stains under his arms.  

They were met with a warm welcome as locals clapped, cheered and waved at the couple who were accompanied by their usual security team.