Venezuelan Democrats respond to Rubio statements in Doral: ‘We are proud Democrats’
A group of Venezuelan and other Latino Democrats protested in front of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s Miami-Dade office Wednesday, following comments he made last week during a campaign stop in Doral where he dismissed criticism of his stance on immigration as partisan attacks.
Rubio, who has supported Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans and asked the Biden administration for a renewal, has come under fire from some Venezuelans for not backing an extension to the eligibility cutoff date for Venezuelans who arrived in the U.S. after March 9, 2021, and a path to citizenship for Venezuelans fleeing the Maduro regime.
President Joe Biden extended TPS for Venezuelans last year, after former President Donald Trump passed a reprieve from deportation for Venezuelans during his last hours in office. What’s different about TPS is that it’s a federal immigration program that offers relief from deportation as well as a work permit to eligible migrants from a number of countries facing humanitarian or political crises. But it only applies to individuals who have arrived during a particular period of time.
“These are Democrat groups that are more Democrats than they are Venezuelan, that have been Democrats before and they will continue being Democrats after ... and they want to turn the topic of Venezuela into an immigration issue,” Rubio told the Herald last week.
The reaction came from Miami activists like Ade Ferro, who is the executive director of the Venezuelan American Caucus, a Democrat-leaning group that advocates for Venezuelans in the U.S. to become more involved in politics.
“We are Democrats. proud Democrats. ... Without Democrats, without President Biden, we wouldn’t have TPS for Venezuelans yet,” Ferro said outside Rubio’s office in Southwest Miami-Dade. “You don’t want more than 50,000 Venezuelans that entered the country after March 9, 2021, to have the opportunity to get TPS over a re-designation that we’re asking President Biden to give to them? So what is your real support? Where is it?”
The group of about 10 people at the protest argued that Rubio’s comments were meant to dismiss his critics within the Venezuelan community. Ferro added that Rubio’s comments were reminiscent of Hugo Chávez’s use of the word “escualidos,” a term the late Venezuelan leader used for opponents.
“The true Venezuelans, regardless of their ideology, are the ones that worry about their neighbors, the ones that don’t close the door behind them because they’ve made it,” said Evelyn Perez-Verdia, senior adviser to Nikki Fried’s gubernatorial campaign. “The cause of Venezuela is not Democrat or Republican.”
Miami state Sen. Annette Taddeo, who is running for Florida governor as a Democrat, said that she also found the statements to be divisive.
“The party of each Venezuelan shouldn’t matter for their rights, just as the party of all Cubans hasn’t mattered in history, they’ve all received the rights that they deserve when fleeing a communist country,” she said.
Rubio’s campaign spokesperson, Laura Ortiz, said in a statement to the Herald that Rubio’s comments at his event last week still stand.
“There are Democrat activists ... with partisan goals,” Ortiz said. “That’s made clear by a Democrat candidate for governor’s attendance.”
This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 3:52 PM.
