Venezuela's Maduro Blames Marco Rubio, 'Miami Mafia' For TPS Revocation

Venezuela's authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro, blamed Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the "Miami Mafia" for the revocation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for country nationals, days after a Supreme Court ruling paved the way for the Trump administration to conduct hundreds of thousands of deportations of recipients.

"Marco Rubio, Maria Elvira Salazar and the Miami Mafia are the authors of this decision," Maduro said, referring to the Cuban-American lawmaker and other Republican officials of Latin American descent who represent districts of the state such as Mario Diaz-Balart and Carlos Gimenez.

Maduro went on to say that the revocation of TPS is a "criminal act" against Venezuelans who left the country as a result of "economic war and media manipulation."

"Taking away TPS is a crime, because it is a right they have. Many believed in the United States and went north. Things went very badly for some, and badly for others, but they have their little houses, they all live together, a small room for each one," he added.

Maria Elvira Salazar reacted to the comment, calling Maduro a "cowardly dictator who destroyed Venezuela."

"Millions fled and got TPS to be protected from you! Now you admit they deserve it because you know your regime only brings misery and repression. The mafia is in Miraflores, not in Miami. You are the one going down!" said the lawmaker.

The Republican officials, however, are being criticized from different sides of the political spectrum. Keep Them Honest, a dark-money organization not required to disclose its donors, is paying for signs claiming that Rubio, President Donald Trump and other Florida Republicans "just betrayed all Venezuelans."

The sign, which could be seen on the Miami Herald's website on Wednesday, features a woman whose face is painted with the colors of Venezuela along with Rubio, President Donald Trump and Reps. Carlos Gimenez and Mario Diaz-Balart. Next to them is an immigrant holding a red sign reading "Latinos Para Trump" and the caption "Who will they betray next?" below.

Keep Them Honest has carried out initiatives of the kind earlier this year, setting up billboards across Florida to criticize the officials with Latin American roots. "Deporting good immigrants back to dictatorships is cruel," read another add.

Chris Willis, a spokesman for the group, told the Miami Herald in late April that the officials "have the ability to make demands for what we know traditionally these members of Congress have said they stood for," which is "to defend the rights of those who have fled dictatorships and have come to this country seeking the American dream."