A bipartisan group of 18 members of the U.S. House of Representatives is urging Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, to respond to “increasingly troubling antisemitic rhetoric and discriminatory policies from Colombian President Gustavo Petro.”
Rubio should consider Petro’s “continued provocations” and embrace of Jew-hatred as the United States reviews its relations with Colombia, perhaps using existing aid programs to push for change, the members of Congress stated.
Led by Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) and Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), the group said it is concerned about the threats Petro poses to Colombia’s Jewish community.
“President Petro’s ongoing antisemitic remarks on social media, along with his aggressive criticism of Israel that resulted in the severing of diplomatic ties, have contributed to an increasingly hostile environment for Colombian Jews,” they wrote.
Petro named Richard Gamboa, “a self-proclaimed ‘rabbi’ with anti-Zionist views and dubious credentials who lacks ties with Colombia’s Jewish institutions,” as the religious affairs director at Colombia’s Interior Ministry, per the lawmakers.
“This appointment demonstrates a calculated effort by President Petro to normalize anti-Jewish hatred for political gains, as Gamboa has repeatedly directed harmful and disturbing rhetoric towards the local Jewish community,” they stated.
Dina Siegel Vann, founding director of the American Jewish Committee’s Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs, stated that the AJC “remains deeply concerned” by Petro’s rhetoric and policies and that his administration “poses a direct threat to the safety and well-being of Colombia’s Jewish community.”
Reps. Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.), Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.), Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) also signed the letter.
