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Officials from the Trump Administration held discussions with Diosdado Cabello, the Interior Minister and second-in-command of chavismo in Venezuela, months prior to the U.S. operation that resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
Both parties have continued to communicate, according to a report on Saturday by Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Communications would have started in the early days of the Trump Administration and intensified in the weeks leading up to the operation on January 3rd.
During those discussions, U.S. officials reportedly demanded that Cabello refrain from using security services or party militants to attack the opposition, according to four sources consulted.
This includes the intelligence forces, the Police, and the pro-government militias known as collectives, which remain active despite the U.S. raid.
Although his name appears in the same drug trafficking accusation that the United States used to justify Maduro's capture, he was not arrested during the operation and has maintained his position as a key figure within the regime.
The communications would also have addressed the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government against him, although it is not clear whether he has complied with the warnings.
The Venezuelan minister has been in contact with the U.S. administration both directly and through intermediaries, according to anonymous sources who discussed sensitive internal communications.
Sources indicate that these communications have been crucial for the Trump administration's efforts to maintain stability in Venezuela.
Cabello, 62, is the main enforcer of repression in Venezuela.
As a former military officer, he exerts influence over military and civil counterintelligence agencies, oversees domestic espionage operations, and maintains close ties with pro-government armed civil groups.
If he had decided to deploy the forces he controls, he could have created chaos that would jeopardize the political control of interim president Delcy Rodríguez, whom Washington views as a key player in its strategy for post-Maduro Venezuela.
The Trump Administration has so far chosen to ally with Delcy Rodríguez, interim president of Venezuela, in order to prevent chaos similar to that which followed the invasion of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Donald Trump himself had a lengthy phone conversation with Rodríguez this week, in which he praised her for doing what her team requires.
The president argued that his administration seeks a "controlled, stable, and effective" transition in Venezuela, and has not hidden his willingness to negotiate with her rather than with the opposition leader María Corina Machado.
Until now, the name Cabello had not publicly appeared in this process.
The conversations with Washington had not been reported and reveal the importance of the former military figure as a guarantor of stability during an unspecified transition period, during which the United States aims to secure access to the country's oil.
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