Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee issued a statement on Thursday condemning conservative Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella for “interfering in American elections” after he officially endorsed the reelection of Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL).
Ranking Member Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), writing in a statement shared by committee Democrats, accused de la Espriella of potentially damaging the U.S.-Colombia relationship — already tattered after four years of Marxist former President Gustavo Petro — with his endorsement, insisting, “The American people decide who represents them in the House, not foreign leaders.” Notably omitted from the statement is the fact that de la Espriella is an American citizen.
“A foreign leader interfering in American elections is unacceptable,” Rep. Meeks declared. “The people of the United States and Colombia share two centuries of friendship and partnership, with democracy as a central pillar.”
“I value the U.S.-Colombia alliance deeply, and I am concerned by any action that could erode the bipartisan support it has enjoyed for decades,” he continued. “President de la Espriella’s decision to involve himself in an American election while serving as the leader of Colombia puts that support in jeopardy. The American people decide who represents them in the House, not foreign leaders.”
Rep. Meeks concluded with the threat that de la Espriella may prevent the preservation of “bipartisan goodwill” towards Colombia.
The offending statement from President de la Espriella was published in Spanish on Rep. Salazar’s social media accounts on October 12 — Columbus Day, which is typically celebrated throughout the Hispanophone world as a day to mark the cultural ties among the world’s Hispanic peoples. Rep. Salazar expressed gratitude for the endorsement and reciprocated her support for the recently elected Colombian president.
“Abelardo has in me a friend. Colombia, an ally,” she wrote.
In the video, de la Espriella describes Rep. Salazar as “Colombia’s best friend in the United States Congress” and thanks her for having “always been there… always defended Colombia.”
President de al Espriella is a dual citizen of America and Colombia, becoming naturalized as an American citizen in 2023. Colombia’s laws allow for the chief executive to hold dual nationalities. Espriella’s predecessor, Gustavo Petro, holds dual Italian-Colombian citizenship, a fact he flaunted after losing his U.S. visa in 2025 due to public comments in New York City apparently calling for a military overthrow of President Donald Trump.
While in the United States for the U.N. General Assembly in September 2025, Petro attended an anti-Israel rally in New York at which he demanded that the U.S. military “disobey the orders of Trump,” accusing Israel of genocide. The U.S. State Department responded by revoking Petro’s visa.
“I no longer have a visa to travel to the United States. I don’t care. I don’t need a visa… because I’m not only a Colombian citizen but a European citizen, and I truly consider myself a free person in the world,” Petro wrote in a screed on Twitter at the time, referring to his Italian passport.
Rep. Meeks apparently did not address the Petro military uprising controversy; a search for comments from the Congressman on the matter at the time yielded no results. He has vocally condemned Colombian conservatives in the past, however, for criticizing former President Joe Biden, and he enthusiastically supported Petro himself in Congress.
In 2020, Rep. Meeks and colleague Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) published a joint column with CNN in which they condemned multiple Colombian conservatives by name for challenging Biden’s political ideology, calling it a “deeply troubling trend.”
“Biden is not a communist, and in spreading that message, the Colombian lawmakers saying this are misinforming American voters and citizens of their own country,” they objected. “These public comments are deeply unethical. Absurd lies about Biden representing Fidel Castro or Hugo Chávez-style socialism are downright manipulative.”
The article mentions that Petro, then a senator, had publicly endorsed Biden, but only in passing, failing to equally condemn his interference in the 2020 election.
In a 2023 hearing before the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House, after Petro had been elected, Meeks defended the former guerrilla terrorist president. The hearing, titled, “Colombia’s Descent to Socialism: Assessing Gustavo Petro’s Presidency,” was meant to address concerns that a radical leftist taking over one of America’s closest allies in the region could severely damage bilateral ties. Rep. Meeks boasted that he had attended Petro’s inauguration and insisted that the “narrative that Colombia has, quote, ‘big problems with democracy’… and with President Petro’s total peace policy is divisive and counterproductive.”
Rep. Meeks also described Petro’s administration as “diverse, inclusive, and progressive,” a stark contrast to Vice President Francia Márquez’s later accusations that she faced racism in her position.
De la Espriella took office as president of Colombia in August after defeating Petro’s hand-picked successor, radical leftist Sen. Iván Cepeda, in the presidential election. Colombia bans presidents from serving for more than one term, which made Petro ineligible for running again. De la Espriella campaigned on a platform of repairing the damaged relationship with the United States under Petro and exerting a “firm hand” against organized crime, particularly Marxist terrorist guerrillas and drug traffickers.
