Who is Diosdado Cabello, Maduro’s interior minister and militia boss?

Among the thousands of supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who joined a nationalist protestation successful Caracas against his play abduction by United States soldiers, 1 antheral stood out.

Wearing a bluish headdress emblazoned with the slogan “To uncertainty is to betray,” Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace Diosdado Cabello marched connected Tuesday with the protesters earlier delivering a code successful beforehand of a elephantine representation of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

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A longtime state of Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez, Cabello has emerged arsenic a cardinal fig successful the enactment that the ousted president had built. Some analysts described him arsenic successful effect the astir almighty idiosyncratic successful Venezuela today, adjacent though Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, has formally taken implicit arsenic interim president of the country.

Cabello has been accused of enforcing crackdowns connected protests and media sum that has been captious of Maduro’s government, including by an autarkic United Nations quality rights ngo successful 2024.

So who is Cabello, and wherefore is helium truthful powerful?

Cabello gives a V motion for triumph arsenic helium marches successful the rally for Maduro and Flores successful Caracas connected January 6, 2026 [Federico Parra/AFP]

Who is Diosdado Cabello?

Born successful El Furrial successful Monagas State successful northeastern Venezuela, Cabello has a inheritance successful engineering, including a postgraduate grade from Andres Bello University.

He served successful assorted roles nether Chavez, who was successful powerfulness from 1999 until his decease successful 2013, including his main of unit and curate of interior and justice, infrastructure and nationalist works.

As a subordinate of the equipped forces, Cabello joined Chavez’s attempted coup against President Carlos Andres Perez successful February 1992 and spent 2 years successful jailhouse aft the coup failed.

After Chavez came to power, Cabello helped acceptable up the pro-Chavez grassroots civilian nine organisations known arsenic Bolivarian Circles, aiming to empower workers and the poor.

On April 13, 2002, during a two-day coup against Chavez, Cabello took connected the duties of the presidency, facing disconnected against Pedro Carmona, the caput of the Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce, whom the coup leaders had appointed president.

Cabello’s archetypal bid was to nonstop elite navy forces to rescue Chavez, who was being held captive astatine a basal connected a Caribbean island.

Chavez was backmost successful bureau a fewer hours later.

During the Chavez era, Cabello was criticised for his concern interests by the opposition, who called him portion of the “Bolibourgeoisie”, oregon officials who had go wealthy.

He was serving arsenic talker of the National Assembly erstwhile Chavez died successful 2013, placing him adjacent successful enactment to service arsenic interim president, according to the Venezuelan Constitution.

The relation alternatively went to Maduro, who remained successful powerfulness for much than a decade. Cabello rose up to go information tsar, starring the interior information apparatus and wielding powerfulness implicit equipped civilians known arsenic “colectivos”.

Why is Cabello truthful powerful?

The evident easiness with which US peculiar forces were capable to onshore successful Caracas, abduct Maduro and Flores, and get retired of Venezuela underscored the wide gulf successful subject capabilities betwixt the 2 adversaries.

The US is the strongest subject powerfulness successful past with 1.33 cardinal progressive soldiers successful summation to the astir destructive scope of bombs, missiles, jets and different weapons ever known to humanity. In contrast, Venezuela has 109,000 progressive subject unit and 31 subject aircraft. The US has 13,043.

If the US were to motorboat a crushed penetration oregon effort to support a subject foothold successful Venezuela, it could inactive look challenges – successful the signifier of paramilitary forces loyal to Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela and the army.

Venezuela has 220,000 paramilitary soldiers, much than treble its ceremonial subject size.

And Cabello, arsenic interior minister, is successful complaint of these groups.

What are Venezuela’s paramilitary groups?

The bulk of the paramilitary fighters beryllium to the Bolivarian Militia, a radical started by Chavez that his critics described arsenic his backstage army.

Then determination are the colectivos, bands of armed, masked, motorcycle-riding fighters who for years person dominated municipality neighbourhoods, enforcing the writ of the governments of Chavez and Maduro.

The colectivos person often besides collaborated with the subject successful a exemplary that Maduro utilized to notation to arsenic the Civil-Military Union.

Why is Cabello controversial?

According to an autarkic UN quality rights mission, Cabello has ordered crackdowns connected radical who reason the Maduro government, including done Operation Tun Tun successful 2017, which was named aft the dependable made erstwhile officers knocked connected someone’s doorway earlier an arrest.

In August 2024 erstwhile helium was a subordinate of the National Assembly, Cabello warned journalists who published accusation astir the statesmanlike predetermination effect that was not successful enactment with Maduro’s authorities would beryllium arrested arsenic portion of Operation Tun Tun, the UN quality rights ngo found.

The mission’s study besides said colectivos operated successful coordination with information forces to repress protests, including by firing informing shots “without being prevented from doing truthful by the information forces, adjacent erstwhile they were lone metres away”.

Along with Maduro and erstwhile Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, Cabello faces drug charges filed by the US Department of Justice implicit what the US said is Venezuela’s decades-long relation successful the cocaine trade.

However, Maduro and his allies accused the US of utilizing the cause charges arsenic screen for an “imperialist threat” that they said is targeting Venezuela’s vast lipid reserves.