As Venezuela tries to cast a image of transition after Nicolás Maduro’s capture, real power is determined not by who occupies the Miraflores Palace, but by who controls fear, arms, and the streets. In this arena, one name emerges with unsettling strength: Diosdado Cabello.
Described by The Wall Street Journal as “the biggest obstacle” to President Donald Trump‘s plans to transform Venezuela into a stable oil state aligned with the United States, Cabello represents more than just a political figure: he is the operator of terror, the guardian of the repressive apparatus, and a key player in the federal criminal file opened in New York.
From Chávez’s Circle to Autonomous Power
Cabello originates from the same military core that supported Hugo Chávez during the power takeover. Unlike other chavista figures, however, he has never been an ideologue. He was an executor. His role has always been linked to control, internal discipline, and crisis management.
The episode of April 2002, when he was briefly placed as a continuity figure during the institutional collapse, defined his profile: Cabello didn’t need charisma; he needed control. Since then, he has built his own power, parallel to Chávez’s first and Maduro’s later.
Maduro Falls, but the Apparatus Remains
With the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces and Delcy Rodríguez‘s oath of office as acting president, Washington bet on a managed transition.
However, that transition faces an uncomfortable reality: Delcy governs the position; Cabello controls the muscle.
From the Ministry of the Interior and through his direct influence over police, military, and armed collectives, Cabello retains real coercive power. In the days following Maduro’s fall, motorized groups paraded through Caracas in displays of strength. This wasn’t spontaneous. It was a message.
The Cartel de los Soles and the Southern District of New York File
For the United States, Cabello is not a problematic political actor but rather a federal accused of narcoterrorism offenses.
In March 2020, the Southern District of New York (SDNY) formally included him in an indictment for criminal conspiracy related to drug trafficking and transnational crimes, within the framework that Washington has termed the Cartel de los Soles. The indictment alleges that high-ranking members of the Venezuelan regime utilized state structures to facilitate drug routes, armed protection, and money laundering.
In January 2026, with Maduro already detained, the case progressed with a substitutive indictment, where Cabello appears again as part of the criminal network. The document describes alleged facts extending to 2024–2025, including references to illicit profits and coordination with international drug trafficking actors.
Legally, Cabello remains a fugitive from U.S. justice. Politically, he acts as though he is untouchable within Venezuela.
The Lawsuit He Lost in New York: Wall Street Journal
Cabello had previously tried to face U.S. justice, but through a different route. In 2016, he sued The Wall Street Journal for defamation in New York, seeking to discredit a report linking him to drug trafficking investigations.
The outcome was devastating for his strategy: he lost the case. In 2017, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, concluding that Cabello failed to prove falsehood or meet the standard required by U.S. law for public figures.
This was a silent and revealing defeat as it took place in the same jurisdiction where he now faces criminal charges; he had already failed to clear his name.
Propaganda, Threats, and the Government of Fear
Within Venezuela, Cabello perfected another instrument: propaganda as a weapon.
His show “Con el Mazo Dando” functioned for years as a media tribunal. Names, faces, public accusations, veiled threats. It fed into operations like the feared “Tun Tun”, employed to intimidate, pursue, and silence.
From television, the accused of narcoterrorism crimes exercised undeterred terror signaling, sending messages of hate, accusations, persecution, and systematic attack campaigns to ruin the reputation of journalists investigating him, opposition figures, and Venezuelan civil society.
Chávez vs. Cabello: A Structural Difference
Although they shared origins, Chávez and Cabello were not the same. Chávez needed masses; Cabello needs armed loyalties. Chávez built narratives; Cabello imposes discipline. This difference explains why, after Chávez’s death, Cabello did not disappear: he became indispensable. And today, without Maduro, his relative power is even greater.
Washington’s Dilemma
For the Trump administration, the problem is clear, as it recognizes that there can be no stabilization while Cabello maintains operational control. He can sabotage elections, fracture any transition, or escalate internal violence.
That’s why his name appears repeatedly in U.S. strategic analyses as the “dangerous wild card” in post-Maduro Venezuela.
Diosdado Cabello does not need the presidency and has never needed it, as his power does not lie in the office he occupies or in his position in the PSUV; his strength emanates from fear, from weapons, from criminal networks, and from his ability to make any orderly exit untenable.
As Maduro faces justice in New York, the true question is not who governs Venezuela, but who can prevent it from governing itself without violence.