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\n Venezuela’s Minister of Interior Diosdado Cabello delivers a speech during a women’s rally in support of ousted Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in Caracas on Jan. 6, 2026.
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FEDERICO PARRA\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n FEDERICO PARRA\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n <\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n BOGOTA, Colombia \u2014 The capture of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro by U.S. special forces has raised hopes of a democratic opening in the South American country. But so far, there’s been no “Venezuelan Spring.”<\/p>\n That’s, in part, because Diosdado Cabello, Maduro’s most hardline enforcer, remains in power under interim President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, who took over following Maduro’s capture by U.S. forces.<\/p>\n In the hours after the U.S. operation, Cabello, who is Venezuela’s Interior Minister, appeared on the streets in Caracas wearing a helmet and flak jacket. He condemned the U.S. operation as a “cowardly attack” and urged Venezuelans not to cooperate with what he called a “terrorist enemy.” <\/p>\n