Colombia denounces UNICEF ambassador

Jun 19, 2014 - 8:32 PM Colombia demanded on Thursday that UNICEF sack a Dutch goodwill ambassador after the actress tweeted a doctored photo depicting two players from the South American country apparently snorting cocaine.

"The lady has crossed the line," Bogota's UN ambassador Maria Emma Mejia told Colombian radio.

The tweet from Van Dam, an actress and model from the Netherlands, depicted two Colombians players prostrate on the football pitch and snorting line of a spray that referees use to draw lines for free kicks, as if it were a line of cocaine.

Under the photo, in Dutch, were the words "Colombiaans Muurtje" - Colombian Wall.

The tweet, posted on Wednesday, has been deleted. It sparked outrage from Bogota and a torrent of indignation despite a new tweet in which Van Dam asked Colombians to accept her "sincere apologies."

UNICEF's Colombia office denounced the tweet as "disrespectful toward the image" of the Andean nation.

Colombia, is one of the world's top producers of cocaine and coca, the leaf from which the narcotic is made.

Source: AAP