The most feared man in Venezuela vows to ‘battle’ the US
Diosdado Cabello wields immense power, commanding the nation’s police, intelligence services, some army units and the militia checking citizens’ phones.
Diosdado Cabello pictured this week at a rally organised by the ruling party supporting Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. His cap reads “To doubt is to betray”. dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
Andres Schipani, Joe Daniels, Michael Stott and Ana Rodríguez Brazón
Updated
On Wednesday night, Venezuela’s strongman interior minister Diosdado Cabello sat at a desk adorned with a statue of ex-leader Hugo Chávez and a giant Flintstone-like club. He stared icily into the camera and demanded that the US return captured president Nicolas Maduro.
“The president has been kidnapped and is a prisoner of war in a New York cell – we demand for them to be returned to us alive,” Cabello said. “Sooner rather than later, this decision by the US government is going to come back to bite them.”
