Summary
- Sen. Bernie Moreno tours Latin America, including
Colombia. - Ohio’s first Latino senator, born in Bogotá, Colombia.
- Elected with Trump’s backing, mirrors Trump’s rhetoric.
- Criticizes Colombia’s leftist president, urges tough
measures. - Seen as a key Trump ally for Latin American
conservatives.
Born in the Colombian capital of Bogota, Ohio’s
first Latino senator, who defeated an incumbent last year with the support of
Donald Trump, kept a close eye on his homeland through older brothers who are
influential figures in both business and politics.
The 58-year-old Moreno has become a mediator for
conservatives in Latin America who want to get in touch with the Trump
administration.
He voiced serious concerns about Colombia’s course under left-wing
President Gustavo Petro in an interview with The Associated Press prior to the
trip, speculating that increased tariffs, U.S. sanctions, or other retaliatory
measures would be required to turn it around.
Moreno, a luxury car dealer from Cleveland,
defeated incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown last year with the help of $441
million in political ad spending — the most in U.S. Senate race history. He
became Ohio’s senior senator on practically his first day in office after his
close friend JD Vance resigned the Senate to become vice president.
In Congress, Moreno has mimicked Trump’s
rhetoric to attack top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer as a “miserable old man
out of a Dickens novel,” called on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates
and threatened to subpoena California officials over their response to anti-ICE
protests in Los Angeles.
In Latin America, he’s been similarly outspoken,
slamming Petro on social media as a “socialist dictator” and accusing Mexico of
being on the path to becoming a “narco state.”
“What people wanted to hear in January is that
we’re going to fly F-16s into Caracas and wage war against the country and that
just wasn’t going to happen,”
said Moreno in the interview.
“If we take actions
that are too much in that direction, we end up turning Venezuela over to
China.”
Such comments barely register in blue-collar
Ohio, but they’ve garnered attention in Latin America. That despite the fact
Moreno hasn’t lived in the region for decades and doesn’t sit on the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee.
Monday marks the beginning of Moreno’s first
congressional trip to Latin America, which will meet with President Claudia
Sheinbaum and other authorities in Mexico City for two days. Terrance Cole, the
director of the Drug Enforcement Administration, who was confirmed by the
Senate last month, will travel with him for the first time.
Sheinbaum has done more to stop the flow of
fentanyl into the United States than her mentor and predecessor, Andrés Manuel
López Obrador, whom Moreno called a “total disaster” in the pre-trip
interview.
How does Moreno’s Colombia visit influence
US-Latin America conservative relations?
Senator Bernie Moreno’s visit to Colombia
significantly influences U.S.-Latin America conservative relations by serving
as a key conduit between conservative leaders in Latin America and the
Trump-aligned U.S. administration.
Moreno, born in Bogotá and with strong family
ties in Colombian politics and business, acts as an interlocutor for
conservatives seeking closer alignment with Washington, particularly under
Trump’s influence.
His visit is part of a broader tour in Latin
America where he engages with political figures such as Colombia’s left-wing
President Gustavo Petro and conservative former President Álvaro Uribe.
