Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Colombia LIVE: Duke and Duchess of Sussex meet Invictus Games athletes in Bogota

This was the moment Prince Harry and Meghan Markle literally got into the swing of their visit to South America as they danced with the Colombian people in Bogota.

The couple visited the Center for the Arts in Bogotá, where they enjoyed a theater, music and dance performance.

The Sussexes are being given extensive security during their visit, along with Ms Marquez.

In addition to several police cars and vans, armed soldiers were also deployed on Thursday to protect Harry and Megan in a huge steel ring in Bogota.

Roads were blocked and residents had to take long detours to reach their homes, and had to wait at checkpoints until the events were over so they could move on.

The couple’s safety will be a high priority during their stay in Colombia, as will Nigeria, where the couple visited in May. The country is considered a high-risk destination in parts of the UK and the US.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is warning against all but essential travel to certain parts of Colombia, as kidnappings remain high.

The country has also been described as “severely conflict-ridden”, with violence on the rise in parts of Colombia despite a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to end the civil war.

Therefore, the authorities keep the route secret, because certain parts of the country are considered ‘best avoided’ due to ongoing internal conflicts.

Harry and Meghan’s host in Colombia, Vice President Francia Márquez, is a politician unlike most in the Latin American country, demanding that the West pay for what it did to her ancestors.

Ms. Márquez, 42, is the country’s first black vice president and first minister for equality. She took office in August 2022, more than 160 years after the first black president, Juan José Nieto Gil.

She said she is among the descendants of the legions of Africans brought to Colombia as slaves in the 17th century to work in the country’s gold mines and sugar cane fields, many of whom still face racist abuse.

While inviting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Colombia in what some see as a diversion from her administration’s domestic troubles, she calls on Meghan’s home country, the US, to take the lead in cancelling the country’s billions of dollars in foreign debt.

Her rise from housekeeper to right-hand woman of the left-wing former armed revolutionary Gustavo Petro is extraordinary, and has been accompanied by as much community campaigning as controversy.

Harry and Meghan were invited to Colombia for their quasi-royal tour after the country’s vice president saw them on Netflix and was “moved” by their story.

Francia Márquez made the revelation when she briefed the media ahead of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s arrival for their four-day trip.

They will visit the cities of Bogotá before travelling to Cartagena and Cali as part of a ‘cultural and social’ visit.

Ms Marquez, who has always referred to the couple as “Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex”, told media that she had asked Meghan to visit Colombia last year but that the visit had been postponed due to other commitments.

Ms Marquez, who is accused of using helicopters as taxis, was asked by a local journalist why she had invited the couple to Colombia.

She replied: ‘I learned about their story through Netflix and I was moved by it. Meghan is a woman who deserves to come to the country and tell her story.’

We can show you footage of Prince Harry’s comments at a digital responsibility summit, where he appears to have blamed fake news for the chaos in Southport.

The forum was organized by the Duke’s Archewell Foundation.

The Duke of Sussex attacked misinformation on social media during a summit on digital responsibility and appeared to blame fake news for the chaos in Southport.

What happens online in a matter of minutes is transferred to the streets. People act on information that is not true.

He added that many people are “scared and uncertain” about the potential impact of AI and that “education and awareness” are key to tackling disinformation.

X founder Elon Musk has been widely criticized for disinformation on his platform about the events, with even the world’s richest man falling victim after he shared a fake story about Sir Keir Starmer visiting detention camps for rioters.

The point is that we all need to be able to tell the real from the fake. In an ideal world, those in positions of influence would take more responsibility.

We no longer debate facts. As long as people are allowed to spread lies, abuse, harass, social cohesion as we know it is completely broken down.

by Nick Pisa, Mark Duell and Elizabeth Haigh

Prince Harry appeared to criticize Elon Musk following the riots in Southport, Britain, as he and his wife Meghan Markle began their four-day, almost royal tour of Colombia.

The Duke of Sussex attacked misinformation on social media during a summit on digital responsibility and appeared to blame fake news for the chaos.

About 80 adults have been sentenced so far following the violence that erupted in parts of the UK after three girls were murdered in Southport on July 29.

And Harry told an audience yesterday: ‘What happens online can be found on the streets within minutes. People are acting on information that is not true.’

He added that many people are “scared and uncertain” about the potential impact of AI and that “education and awareness” are key to tackling disinformation.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived in Bogota yesterday to begin their four-day visit to Colombia

The couple are received by Colombian Vice President Francia Márquez, who invited them after watching the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan

Here’s what you need to know from day one:

• Harry and Meghan spent the day at a school in the capital Bogotá to talk to teenagers about the impact of social media.
• In their second public appearance, Meghan and Harry attended a ceremony at the Delia Zapata National Arts Center in Bogota, where Meghan embraced artisanal design by wearing a maxi dress by Colombian designer Johanna Ortiz.
• The Duke and Duchess later spoke at a summit on digital responsibility, co-hosted by Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation.
• Over the next three days, the Sussexes will explore more of Bogotá before heading to Cartagena and Cali as part of a ‘cultural and social’ visit.
• Harry will also meet with members of Team Colombia who are competing in the Invictus Games and preparing for the 2025 Games in Whistler, Canada.

Officials are keeping the route secret because certain parts of the country are considered “best avoided” due to ongoing internal conflict.

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s visit to Colombia.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived in the Colombian capital Bogota on Thursday to begin a four-day visit focused on tackling cyberbullying and online discrimination and promoting female leadership in Colombia.

We bring you the latest news and photos from the royal couple’s trip to South America, plus reactions.