Fact Check: Is Anna Paulina Luna’s claim that Nicolas Maduro 'put out a hit on' Marco Rubio true?

WASHINGTON, DC: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, along with his wife, Cilia Flores, was captured and flown out of Venezuela after the United States carried out a large-scale strike on Saturday, January 3.

Following this, Republican Rep Anna Paulina Luna of Florida repeatedly claimed that Maduro had "put out a hit" on Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he was a senator. But is there any truth to her statement? Let us find out below.

Claim: Anna Paulina Luna says Maduro 'put out a hit on' Marco Rubio

During a Fox News appearance on Sunday, January 4, Anna Paulina Luna said, “What President Trump did, in addition to liberating the people of Venezuela, also to, I believe, has, you know, ensured Marco Rubio's safety.”

She added, “A lot of the American people are unaware that a couple of years ago, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio was then a senator, that Nicols Maduro had actually put out a hit on him, and that doesn't just go away because he came secretary of state, so I think Marco Rubio's sleeping well tonight.”

Similarly, the Republican Study Committee, the conservative caucus of House Republicans, published a news release on January 3 in which Luna made the same claim. 

She also repeated it during a January 3 appearance on MS NOW, where she added that she considered the alleged hit an “act of war.” Her claim further spread on X, Facebook, and Instagram.

Fact Check: False, no evidence to back the viral claim

The claim made by Anna Paulina Luna is false, as there is no evidence to prove that Maduro had "put out a hit" on Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he was a senator.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) indictment of Maduro, as MS NOW anchor Ayman Mohyeldin pointed out, did not mention any alleged hit that the Venezuelan president had put out on Rubio.

Snopes reported that Luna may have mistakenly referenced a 2017 Miami Herald report stating that US intelligence had determined that Venezuelan politician Diosdado Cabello "may have" put a kill order out on Rubio. Moreover, experts told the fact-checking outlet that if such an order were real, Maduro may not have known about it, given Cabello’s significant power in the country.

David Leatherwood, a spokesman for Luna’s office, appeared to reference the 2017 report in an emailed statement to Snopes, backtracking on Luna’s initial claim in which she alleged that Maduro specifically put out the hit.

"Secretary Rubio, when he was a Senator, had a security detail assigned to him based on real threats to him from the Maduro regime. Reach out to the secretary's team to confirm," Leatherwood wrote. 

Trump warns multiple nations after Nicolas Maduro capture

President Donald Trump issued threats against several countries just days after the US operation in Venezuela. The POTUS delivered blunt warnings to Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Iran, and even renewed calls to annex Greenland.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said the Venezuela operation could signal further action elsewhere, making clear that other governments were now under US scrutiny.

“Colombia is very sick, too. Run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long,” the POTUS said.

When asked whether the US could carry out a military operation against Colombia, Trump replied, “It sounds good to me.” He added, “We’re going to have to do something. We’d love Mexico to do it, they’re capable of doing it, but unfortunately the cartels are very strong in Mexico."

He further said, “Cuba is ready to fall. Cuba looks like it’s ready to fall. I don’t know if they’re going to hold out. They got all of their income from Venezuela.”

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