Rubio Receives Increased Security After Reported Venezuelan Death Order
Senator has had a security detail in Washington and Miami
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has received increased security in light of an order by Venezuelan leaders reportedly putting a death order on him.
Rubio, who has been a fervent critic of the Venezuelan government and leader Nicolas Maduro, has had a detail in both Washington and his home in Miami, the Miami Herald reported.
The death threat supposedly came from former military chief Diosdado Cabello, whom Rubio has previously called “the Pablo Escobar of Venezuela” for being suspected of ties to drug trafficking.
In response, Cabello has called Rubio “Narco Rubio.”
The threat was outlined in a memo from the Department of Homeland Security to law enforcement agencies, but the memo also stated “no specific information regarding an assassination plot against Senator Rubio has been garnered thus far.”
The memo said that Cabello also possibly went to “unspecified Mexican nationals” in his attempt to assassinate the senator.
The news also comes after President Donald Trump has said that a “military option” is possible for Venezuela in light of unrest in the nation.
Traveling in Colombia on Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence said that Trump was showing “his resolve not to stand by and let a neighbor collapse into dictatorship.”
Speaking alongside Pence, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he told Pence that other countries in the region prefer “other measures” to bring about change in Venezuela.
“Since friends have to tell them the truth, I’ve told Vice President Pence the possibility of military intervention shouldn’t even be considered,” Santos said, according to CNN.
