U.S. held months of secret contacts with Venezuela powerbroker Cabello

U.S. officials held months of contact with Venezuela’s powerful interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, beginning in the early days of the current Trump administration and continuing through the operation that ousted President Nicolás Maduro, people familiar with the matter said. The communications, conducted both directly and through intermediaries, covered U.S. sanctions and an existing indictment against Cabello, and included warnings against deploying security forces or pro-government militant groups against opposition elements.

The timeline of contacts stretches back to the administration’s opening weeks and extended into the weeks immediately before the U.S. operation that removed Maduro. At least one source placed the operation on January 3 and said portions of Venezuela’s security apparatus remained largely intact afterward. Four people familiar with the case said the administration has remained in touch with Cabello since Maduro’s removal. All of those sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

Officials discussed U.S. sanctions on Cabello and an indictment he faces, though the reporting does not detail the charges. Conversations also included specific warnings aimed at preventing Cabello from unleashing security services or colectivos, the pro-government militias that U.S. officials view as capable of provoking chaotic street violence. It remains unclear whether the communications delved into formal plans for Venezuela’s governance after the ouster or whether Cabello complied with the cautions he received.

Cabello is presented by sources as a central powerbroker inside Venezuela’s security and intelligence networks. Now 62, he is interior minister, a PSUV leader and a former military officer with longstanding ties to counterintelligence agencies. Reporters noted his public posture in the wake of Maduro’s capture, including appearances in a flak jacket surrounded by armed guards, and his long-running weekly television program, a multihour broadcast that has aired for roughly 12 years. Another source described close alliances between Cabello and senior figures inside the state security apparatus, including an associate named Gonzalez, who has worked with him in military counterintelligence and was appointed to a top job at the state oil company in 2024.

The U.S. engagement with Cabello reflects a strategic judgment in Washington that he could either stabilize a fragile transition or become a spoiler capable of "unleashing the forces that he controls," according to officials anxious to avoid mass violence. The stakes are economic as well as political. Venezuela’s military and retired officers control critical nodes of the economy, including food distribution, raw materials and PDVSA, the state oil company. One report cited by sources estimated the military includes as many as 2,000 generals and admirals, a structure that complicates efforts to consolidate authority and restore oil production quickly.

Markets could be sensitive to any sign that rival power centers inside Venezuela limit U.S. access to oil assets or destabilize supply. For Washington, the contacts pose a trade-off between short-term stability and longer-term accountability; engaging a figure who faces U.S. sanctions and an indictment risks eroding legal leverage while offering a pathway to preserve production and prevent immediate chaos.

The White House and the Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Public details remain limited, and officials and analysts caution that the full scope of the conversations and their effects on governance in Caracas are not yet clear.