Venezuelan talking to U.S., source says

Meetings with socialist party boss reportedly focused on ousting Maduro

BOGOTA, Colombia — The U.S. has made secret contact with Venezuela’s socialist party boss about demands to remove President Nicolas Maduro, according to a senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration.

Diosdado Cabello, who is considered the most powerful man in Venezuela after Maduro, met last month in Caracas with someone who is in close contact with the Trump administration, the official told The Associated Press. A second meeting is in the works but has not yet taken place.

Members of Maduro’s inner circle seek guarantees that they won’t face prosecution for alleged abuses and crimes if they accede to growing demands to remove Maduro, according to the U.S. official.

The AP is withholding the intermediary’s name and details of the encounter with Cabello out of concern the person could suffer reprisals. The Trump administration official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official isn’t authorized to discuss the talks, which are still preliminary. It’s not clear whether the talks have Maduro’s approval or not.

Cabello, 56, is a major power broker inside Venezuela, and he has seen his influence in the government and security forces expand as Maduro’s grip on power has weakened. But he’s also been accused by U.S. officials of being behind corruption, drug trafficking and even death threats against a sitting U.S. senator.

The administration official said that under no circumstances is the U.S. looking to prop up Cabello or pave the way for him to replace Maduro. Instead, the goal of the outreach is to ratchet up pressure on the regime by contributing to the conflict the U.S. believes is taking place behind the scenes among competing circles of power within the ruling party.

Similar contacts exist with other top Venezuelan insiders, the official said, and the U.S. wants to hear what it would take for them to betray Maduro and support a transition plan.

Cabello did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But an aide said the U.S. has been increasingly looking to establish contact. The aide rejected the notion Cabello was somehow betraying Maduro, saying that Cabello would only meet with Americans with the president’s permission and if it contributes to lifting sanctions he blames for crippling the oil-dependent economy. The aide spoke on the condition of anonymity because he isn’t authorized to discuss political affairs publicly.

A person familiar with the July encounter said Cabello appeared savvy and arrived to the meeting with the U.S.backed envoy well prepared, with a clear understanding of Venezuela’s political problems. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to discuss the matter.

Juan Guaido, recognized by the U.S. and dozens of other countries as Venezuela’s rightful leader, has not had enough support among the military to take power. Maduro has the support of the military, but lacks the strength to apprehend his rival or rescue the collapsed economy, which is under U.S. sanctions.

As head of the constitutional assembly, Cabello has the power to remove Maduro, a position that could come in handy in any negotiated transition. But to date he’s run the institution, which the U.S. considers illegitimate, as a rubber-stamping foil to the opposition-controlled congress, showing no signs of possible deception.

It’s not clear who initiated the contact with Cabello. But the U.S. official said Cabello was privately talking with the U.S. while he publicly displays his loyalty to Maduro and criticizes Trump.

But until now, the Trump administration has shown deep scorn for Cabello, hitting him with sanctions last year for allegedly organizing drug shipments and running a major graft network that embezzled state funds and invested the stolen proceeds in Florida real estate. The U.S. also believes he discussed a plot to kill U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who has called Cabello “Venezuela’s Pablo Escobar” — a reference to the late Colombian who was the ruthless boss of the Medellin cartel.

“Cabello is one of the worst of the worst inside of Venezuela,” said Fernando Cutz, a former senior national security adviser on Latin America to both President Barack Obama and Trump. “If the strategy is to try to negotiate with the mafia boss, he’s your guy. But that’s a strategy that carries some heavy risks.”