Sen. Moreno to attend Colombian election as observer
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, will visit Colombia this weekend as an official international observer of the South American country’s presidential election on May 31, by invitation of Colombia’s National Electoral Council.
What You Need To Know
- Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, will visit Colombia as an official international observer of the country’s presidential election on Sunday
- Moreno, who was born in Colombia, emigrated to the U.S. when he was 5-years-old and has since renounced his Colombian citizenship
- Moreno has long made his opinions known on Colombian President Gustavo Petro
The Council, an autonomous government agency that oversees Colombia’s elections, wrote in a statement:
“The U.S. congressman’s participation is part of the institutional strategy to strengthen international cooperation and consolidate guarantees of transparency, integrity and legitimacy in the Colombian electoral process.”
Moreno, who was born in Bogotá, Colombia, emigrated to the U.S. when he was 5 years old and has since renounced his Colombian citizenship.
“So I don’t vote in that election. It’s up to the people of Colombia to make that decision,” Moreno said in an interview with Spectrum News. “I think it’s important to make certain that Colombia has free, fair elections that are free of intimidation.”
The National Electoral Council requires that international observers must refrain from “demonstration in favor of or against parties, movements or candidates.”
However, Moreno has long made his opinion known on Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The Moreno family has strong ties to the country’s conservative elites—and corresponding animosity toward Petro and his administration.
Petro, in turn, has accused two of Moreno’s brothers of corruption and money laundering in connection to a land-grabbing racket in the 1990s.
Moreno has pushed President Donald Trump and his administration to take actions against Petro. At a meeting in Oct. 2025, Moreno’s team brought a document to the White House that appears to show AI-produced images of Petro and Nicolas Maduro, then the president of Venezuela, in orange prison jumpsuits. The document was captured in a photo posted by the White House and obtained by NBC News. The document, titled “The Trump Doctrine for Colombia and the Western Hemisphere,” calls for the U.S. to impose sanctions on Petro, his family and associates.
Later that month, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Petro, as well as his wife, son and a close associate.
In Jan. 2026, the U.S. launched a military strike in Venezuela and captured Maduro, who is now in U.S. custody awaiting trial on charges of narco-terrorism.
In an interview with Spectrum News in January, Moreno did not directly answer a question on whether he thought Petro should also be arrested.
“First of all, don’t believe everything you see on social media,” Moreno said. “But look, Petro was elected by the people of Colombia. Probably there are a lot of people in Colombia that regret voting for him because, again, he’s been an abject disaster… But that is all coming to an end. There will be an election very, very soon.”
The Moreno-Petro feud continued this month after Moreno said in a May 20 conversation with think tank Atlantic Council that Colombia should disqualify voters from parts of the country that he said were not secure. Petro then responded in a social media post,
“I request of Senator Bernie Moreno, a United States citizen, that he refrain from making comments other than those pertaining to his mission of electoral oversight.”
Petro cannot run again for president because of term limits, but he is supporting his party’s nominee, Iván Cepeda.
Moreno said depending on who wins the election, he will return to Colombia on Aug. 7 for the inauguration of the new president.