- Trump warns Venezuela's Diosdado Cabello.
- Cabello is hardline interior minister.
- Support acting president Delcy Rodríguez.
According to Reuters, US officials are "particularly worried" that Cabello, who has long been regarded by many as the regime's true No. 2, could undermine Washington's strategy to maintain important members of Maduro's inner circle in place in the name of stability while pursuing a transition and unfettered access to Venezuela's oil.
Donald Trump claimed in a post on Monday that Venezuela will be "turning over" $2 billion worth of crude to the US as part of a deal that would assist Venezuela avoid further production limits while diverting supplies from China.
Speaking on Wednesday after briefing US senators, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Washington had a three-step plan for the South American nation, starting with stabilizing it following Maduro's capture.
“We don’t want it descending into chaos,”
said Rubio, adding that the second phase would involve “ensuring that American, western and other companies have access to the Venezuelan market in a way that’s fair”, as well as “beginning a process of reconciliation … so that opposition forces can be amnestied, released from prison or brought back to the country, and start rebuilding civil society.
“And then the third phase, of course, will be one of transition,”
he added.
The leader of the opposition in Venezuela, María Corina Machado, has promised to return as soon as possible. She said she expected new elections to be called soon and rejected the power of the acting president, who is now supported by the United States.
"We will receive over 90% of the votes in free and fair elections."
Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, wrote on Wednesday that the United States "continues to enforce the blockade against all dark-fleet vessels illegally transporting Venezuelan oil to finance illicit activity," following the seizure of two Russian-flagged oil tankers in the Atlantic and the Caribbean.
Through proxies, US officials have informed Cabello that he may suffer a fate akin to Maduro's if he continues to act defiantly.
For his part, Cabello has shared videos on social media that show him leading scores of highly armed men as they police Caracas' streets. He is in charge of the police, counterintelligence services, and colectivos militias.
In addition, he can be seen taking pictures, shaking hands with shoppers and citizens, and asking how things are over a speakerphone chat with what looks to be another commander.
"In combat, my captain, my commander." "
Defending our homeland," is the response.
In a different video, dozens of armed men cry, "Always loyal, never traitors!" while posing for the camera with their rifles lifted and their fists clinched. and the phrase "To doubt is to betray!" was printed on Cabello's headgear, which he also wore to Monday's swearing-in event.
Cabello's animosity with Rodriguez and her brother, Jorge Rodriguez, the head of the Venezuelan Congress, dates back many years. Analysts emphasize that there was no clear hierarchy, despite the fact that many saw him as Maduro's second most important figure in the administration. Power was split between rival and coexisting factions, including one led by Cabello and another by the Rodríguez siblings.
Cabello is considered a "core" Chavista because he was one of the officers involved in Hugo Chávez's abortive coup attempt in 1992.
More than 20,000 extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and the imprisonment of political opponents are just a few of the numerous and well-documented human rights violations committed by the Maduro dictatorship, which are largely attributed to the interior minister.
Additionally, Maj. Gen. Javier Marcano T."ata was replaced as commander of the presidential honor guard by Gen. Gustavo González López. Despite surviving the operation that resulted in Maduro's capture, which claimed the lives of at least 24 Venezuelan soldiers and 32 Cubans, the majority of whom were part of Maduro's personal security detail, Tõata's position was deemed untenable due to criticism over an alleged failure to stop his leader's capture.
In a televised speech, the acting president further toughened her stance against Washington by declaring that "no external agent governs Venezuela."
She went back to using harsher rhetoric, calling the US strike a "terrible military aggression," in contrast to the conciliatory tone she had taken on Sunday.
How might the military respond to a power struggle between Maduro allies?
Venezuela's service, tightly pious to Maduro through decades of purges, profitable impulses like medicine trafficking gains, and Cuban- bedded intelligence, might fracture or launch asymmetric resistance in a power struggle among his abettors like Diosdado Cabello and Delcy Rodríguez.
Elderly officers could back Cabello's colectivos( 220,000 paramilitaries) for civic guerrilla warfare in Caracas using" war of all the people" tactics host rallying, reservists, and anarchization to render home ungovernable whilemid-ranks disfigurement to Rodríguez under US pressure, risking civil war or Libya- style chaos over oil painting fields and structure.
Literal achievement- proofing ensures elite cohesion for prolonged resistance but weakens conventional ops; without unified command, coalitions might seize airfields power shops, invite Wagner delegates, or chip into warlordism, complicating US- backed transition amid Trump's leaguer.