According to the Department of Homeland Security document, published through several US national media, Chavista leader Diosdado Cabello coordinated the hiring of a Mexican hitman to assassinate Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

While the federal authorities could not ensure the truth of the threat, the senator's safeguard and protection measures have been strengthened in recent weeks in both Washington and Miami.

Rubio has been one of the voices that have criticized more fiercely the Venezuelan regime, even going so far as to call Cabello "the Pablo Escobar of Venezuela" during a hearing in the American Senate on July 19, which unleashed a cross fire between both politicians through Twitter.

According to the Miami Herald report, the memorandum specified the issuance of an assassination order against Senator Rubio that, although details of the plot were not corroborated, included contact with "unspecified Mexican nationals" to carry out the attack.

The United States believes Cabello controls security forces throughout Venezuela, and the fact that Rubio, as a Republican, has direct access to President Trump's consideration of the Venezuelan situation, could be the motive behind Cabello's stratagem.

According to the media, Rubio "has led the push for a robust U.S. response against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government before and after a disputed July 30 vote that elected a new legislative body whose powers supersede all other government branches — including the opposition-held parliament”.

The focus has been on Cabello after several investigations have concluded his connection with international drug trafficking, an accusation that Cabello has emphatically rejected, calling it an "imperial attack" against the "Chávez people."

But during the month of February, the US government accused Vice President Tareck El Aissami of being the main drug trafficker in the region, revealing that he owned at least $ 500 million in illicit funds kept outside the country, which led to the issue of sanctions against him within the territory of the United States.

The US government, however, has not yet sanctioned Cabello, during the financial sanctions procedure issued by the Trump administration in retaliation for the violation of human rights in Venezuela.