Security chief Diosdado Cabello is nicknamed the Octopus for good reason, with the regime’s fate said to rest with him
His nickname is the Octopus, he hosts a TV show called Hitting it with a Sledgehammer and many Venezuelans consider him the real power in the land.
Diosdado Cabello runs the regime’s security apparatus and is perhaps the most feared, reviled and, in some quarters, revered government figure, with influence to rival that of the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez.
As interior minister, Cabello controls the police and prisons and after three decades at the heart of Chavismo his influence – or tentacles – also stretch across the ruling socialist party and state enterprises.
With Donald Trump demanding Venezuela’s obeisance, the Caracas regime’s fate depends in part on whether Cabello, 62, retains his authority – and whether he uses it to bow to Washington or attempt a fightback.
