The Trump administration had been in talks with Venezuela’s hardline Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello for months before the US operation to oust and arrest President Nicolas Maduro began.
Reuters reported this information, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter.
According to the report, US officials warned Cabello not to use the intelligence agencies, police or armed forces under his control to target the opposition.
Cabello (62)’s security equipment remains largely intact after the US operation in Venezuela on January 3.
Despite Cabello’s drug trafficking charges and sanctions in the United States, contacts with him have been established since the early days of the Trump administration.
These contacts continued in the weeks before Maduro’s ouster and are said to be ongoing.
Analysts say Cabello’s contact with the Trump administration is crucial to keeping Venezuela’s internal affairs under control. If Cabello were to unleash the forces under his control, it could create chaos in the country that could threaten the power of interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
While the Trump administration sees Rodriguez as key to its strategy, experts believe Cabello has the power to make or break U.S. plans.
Cabello and Rodriguez have long been at the center of the government, but they do not have a close relationship. Rather, their long-standing rivalry is worrying U.S. officials.
“Only if Cabello leaves will Venezuelans understand that a regime change has begun,” said Elliot Abrams, Trump’s first-term special envoy.
In 2020, the United States put a $10 million bounty on Cabello, accusing him of being a leader of the Los Soles drug cartel. That was later increased to $25 million. Many politicians in Washington have questioned why Cabello was not captured when Maduro was arrested.
“I know that Diosdado is probably more dangerous than Maduro,” Republican Representative Maria Elvira Salazar said in an interview.
Cabello is currently overseeing the release of political prisoners as interior minister. However, human rights groups have complained that the process has been slow and that hundreds of people are still being unjustly imprisoned.
