In a rare moment of public vulnerability, Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela's powerful interior minister and longtime regime enforcer, issued a stark warning to the Chavista elite: maintain unity or face destruction.
"If they see us, one here and another there, they will eat us one by one. And there will be no one left. None of us," Cabello warned in video circulated by Venezuelan opposition media, calling for "strength" among Chavista ranks.
The unusually anxious message from the regime's second-most powerful figure reveals deep insecurity within Venezuela's authoritarian government as international pressure mounts and internal fractures become visible. Cabello, who typically projects unshakeable confidence while overseeing the government's repressive apparatus, spoke with uncharacteristic urgency about maintaining cohesion.
Timing Signals Regime Anxiety
The warning comes as Venezuela faces multiple pressures simultaneously. Argentina has formally requested Nicolás Maduro's extradition from the United States on crimes against humanity charges, and the regime's chief financier, Alex Saab, was reportedly captured in Venezuela shortly after returning from U.S. imprisonment.
Analysts familiar with Chavista internal dynamics note that Cabello's public plea for unity typically signals private discord. The minister, who controls Venezuela's intelligence services and has personally orchestrated crackdowns on dissent, rarely shows concern about regime stability in public forums.
In Venezuela, as across nations experiencing collapse, oil wealth that once seemed a blessing became a curse—and ordinary people pay the price. While the Chavista elite worry about their own survival, seven million Venezuelans have fled economic collapse and political repression since 2015.
Power Structure Under Pressure
The public anxiety from Cabello suggests fractures within the Chavista coalition that has controlled Venezuela since Hugo Chávez's election in 1999. The coalition has historically maintained power through a complex balance of military control, oil revenue distribution, and repression of opposition.
But with oil production at historic lows, international sanctions targeting regime figures, and growing isolation even among traditional allies, the incentives binding the coalition together have weakened. Cabello's warning implicitly acknowledges that individual regime members might calculate their interests differently under pressure.
"The fact that he's saying this publicly means the private discussions must be quite serious," noted one Venezuelan political analyst speaking from exile. "These aren't the words of someone confident in his coalition's cohesion."
Regional Context Intensifies
The warning follows Argentina's unprecedented move to request Maduro's extradition, using universal jurisdiction principles to pursue crimes against humanity charges. While the U.S. has not indicated it would honor such a request, the legal action demonstrates Venezuela's growing isolation within Latin America.
Neighboring countries, struggling to manage the Venezuelan refugee crisis, have grown increasingly critical of Maduro's regime. Colombia, Peru, and Chile host millions of Venezuelan exiles who fled the humanitarian catastrophe created by economic collapse and authoritarian consolidation.
For opposition activists and the Venezuelan diaspora, Cabello's anxious message offers a glimmer of hope that the seemingly impenetrable regime may have vulnerabilities. But they also recognize that cornered authoritarian coalitions often become more dangerous, intensifying repression to maintain control through fear when other bonds weaken.
The humanitarian toll continues mounting while the elite worry about their own fate. Food insecurity, healthcare collapse, and hyperinflation have transformed what was once Latin America's wealthiest nation into a society where survival requires daily struggle for ordinary citizens—a crisis the Chavista leadership created but from which they remain largely insulated.
