Moskowitz, Salazar Lead Colleagues Urging Secretary Rubio for Action Against Antisemitic Rhetoric and Policies in Colombia

WASHINGTON, DC - This week, Representatives Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23) and Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27) led sixteen of their colleagues urging the Trump Administration for action against antisemitic rhetoric and policies coming out of the Colombian government.

In their letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Moskowitz, Salazar, and their colleagues warn about "increasingly troubling antisemitic rhetoric and discriminatory policies from Colombian President Gustavo Petro" and the direct threat they pose to the safety and wellbeing of Colombia's Jewish community.

Since his election in 2022, Petro has engaged in ongoing antisemitic commentary on social media, broken political ties with Israel, and appointed an individual with anti-Zionist views and dubious credentials as Director of Religious Affairs at Colombia's Ministry of the Interior. Such decisions have contributed "to an increasingly hostile environment for Colombian Jews" and represent "a calculated effort…to normalize anti-Jewish hatred for political gains."

As the U.S. government looks to redefine its parameters of engagement with the Colombian government, the group urges Rubio to consider Petro's "continued provocations and embrace of antisemitic rhetoric and policies." These actions, they write, are "inconsistent with our shared values and interests" and may require "even stronger actions" in response, including the leveraging of U.S. assistance to push for meaningful change.

Joining Moskowitz and Salazar on their letter were Representatives Laura Gillen (D-NY-04), Buddy Carter (R-GA-01), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05), Gary Palmer (R-AL-06), Mike Lawler (R-NY-17), Pat Harrigan (R-NC-10), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25), Pete Stauber (R-MN-08), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Frederica Wilson (D-FL-24), Don Bacon (R-NE-02), Lois Frankel (D-FL-22), Haley Stevens (D-MI-11), Ted Lieu (D-CA-36), and Tom Kean, Jr. (R-NJ-07).

The group's effort was also endorsed by the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

"American Jewish Committee (AJC) remains deeply concerned by the antisemitic rhetoric and discriminatory policies emanating from Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his Administration, which poses a direct threat to the safety and well-being of Colombia's Jewish community. These actions by the highest levels of government in Colombia must not become normalized. We commend Representatives Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and María Salazar (R-FL) for their principled leadership in urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to make clear to President Petro that his government's continued provocations and embrace of antisemitic rhetoric and policies are inconsistent with our shared values and interests," said Dina Siegel Vann, Director, The Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs, AJC.

For the group's full letter to Secretary Rubio, click HERE.

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