Diosdado Cabello facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Diosdado Cabello
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Cabello in 2019.
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| Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace | |
| Assumed office 27 August 2024 |
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| President | Nicolás Maduro |
| Preceded by | Remigio Ceballos |
| In office 28 April 2002 – 10 January 2003 |
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| President | Hugo Chávez |
| Preceded by | Ramón Rodríguez Chacín |
| Succeeded by | Lucas Rincón Romero |
| President of the 2017 Constituent Assembly | |
| In office 19 June 2018 – 18 December 2020 |
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| President | Nicolás Maduro |
| Preceded by | Delcy Rodríguez |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Vice President of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela | |
| Assumed office 11 December 2011 |
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| President | Hugo Chávez Nicolás Maduro |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Acting President of Venezuela | |
| Acting 13 April 2002 – 14 April 2002 |
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| Preceded by | Pedro Carmona (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Hugo Chávez |
| Vice President of Venezuela | |
| In office 13 January 2002 – 28 April 2002 |
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| President | Hugo Chávez |
| Preceded by | Adina Bastidas |
| Succeeded by | José Vicente Rangel |
| 6th President of the National Assembly | |
| In office 5 January 2012 – 5 January 2016 |
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| President | Hugo Chávez Nicolás Maduro |
| Preceded by | Fernando Soto Rojas |
| Succeeded by | Henry Ramos Allup |
| Deputy of the National Assembly of Venezuela | |
| In office 5 January 2011 – 27 August 2024 |
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| Constituency | Monagas State (2011-2021) National List (2021-2024) |
| Minister of Public Works and Housing | |
| In office 4 March 2009 – 24 June 2010 |
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| President | Hugo Chávez |
| Preceded by | Isidro Rondón (Infrastructure) Francisco Sesto (Housing and Habitat) |
| Succeeded by | Ricardo Molina (Housing and Habitat) |
| Governor of Miranda | |
| In office 31 October 2004 – 29 November 2008 |
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| Preceded by | Enrique Mendoza |
| Succeeded by | Henrique Capriles |
| Minister of Infrastructure | |
| In office 15 January 2003 – 28 April 2004 |
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| President | Hugo Chávez |
| Preceded by | Ismael Hurtado |
| Succeeded by | Ramón Carrizales |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Diosdado Cabello Rondón
15 April 1963 El Furrial, Monagas, Venezuela |
| Political party |
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| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) |
| Spouse | Marleny Contreras |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | José David Cabello (brother) Glenna Cabello (sister) |
| Profession | Engineer |
| Signature |  |
Diosdado Cabello Rondón (born 15 April 1963) is a Venezuelan politician who currently serves as Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace since 2024. Cabello is a former member of the National Assembly of Venezuela, where he previously served as Speaker. He is also an active member of the Venezuelan armed forces, with the rank of captain.
Cabello played a key role in Hugo Chávez's return to power following the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt. He became a leading member of Chavez’s Movimiento V República (MVR), and remains a leading member of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, into which MVR was merged in 2007. Governor of Miranda state from 2004 to 2008, he lost the 2008 election to prominent opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski and was subsequently appointed Public Works & Housing Minister. In November 2009, he was additionally appointed head of the National Commission of Telecommunications, a position traditionally independent from the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. In 2010, he was elected a member of parliament by his home state of Monagas. In 2011, President Hugo Chávez named him the vice president of Venezuela’s ruling party, the PSUV. In 2012, he was elected and sworn in as President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, the country’s parliament. He was elected president of the National Assembly each year until 2016. He was the second and last president of the 2017 National Constituent Assembly
Described in 2013 as the second most powerful man in Venezuela, Reuters wrote in 2012 that Cabello possessed significant "sway with the military and lawmakers plus close links to businessmen."
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Early life and education
Diosdado Cabello was born in El Furrial, in the state of Monagas. In 1987, he graduated second in his class from the Venezuelan Military Academy. His measured intelligence quotient (IQ) was ranked as the fifth-highest among all students in the institution's history. His background is in engineering. He has an undergraduate degree in systems engineering from the Instituto Universitario Politécnico de las Fuerzas Armadas Nacionales and a graduate degree in engineering project management from the Andrés Bello Catholic University.
Military career
While at Instituto Universitario Politécnico de las Fuerzas Armadas Nacionales, Cabello befriended Hugo Chávez and they played on the same baseball team.
During Chávez’s abortive coup d'état of February 1992 against the government of then-President Carlos Andrés Pérez, Cabello led a group of four tanks to attack Miraflores Palace. Cabello was jailed for his participation in the coup, though President Rafael Caldera later pardoned him with the rest of the coup participants and Cabello was released after only two years without any charges.
Political career
After Chávez was released from jail in 1994, Cabello helped him run his political campaign as he was a prominent member of the Fifth Republic Movement Chávez was leading. Following Chávez’s 1998 electoral victory, he helped set up the pro-Chávez grassroots civil society organizations known as "Bolivarian Circles" which have been compared to Cuba's Committees for the Defence of the Revolution and are parent organizations for the Colectivos.
From 1999-2000, Cabello was head of the national telecommunications commission (CONATEL). The main telecommunications law he helped promulgate, known as the "Organic Telecommunications Law" (2000), was especially praised by the private sector. Specifically, it ended the state's prior monopoly on the industry and fostered a significant level of free-market competition, as Cabello's work helped increase the treasury's revenue by $400 million dollars at a time when oil prices were not especially high.
In May 2001, he became Chavez' chief of staff, and was appointed Vice President by President Hugo Chávez on 13 January 2002, replacing Adina Bastidas. As such, he was responsible to both the president and the National Assembly, and for the relations between the executive and legislative branches of the government.
On 13 April 2002, he took on the duties of the presidency on a temporary basis, replacing Pedro Carmona, head of the Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce, as interim president during the coup d'état attempt when Chávez was kept prisoner and was consequently absent from office. Upon taking office, Cabello said that "I, Diosdado Cabello, am assuming the presidency until such time as the president of the republic, Hugo Chávez Frías, appears." A few hours later, Chávez was back in office. This made Cabello’s presidency the world’s second briefest, after that of Mexican President Pedro Lascuráin.
On 28 April 2002, Cabello was replaced as Vice President by José Vicente Rangel. Cabello was named interior minister in May 2002, and then infrastructure minister in January 2003.
| Miranda State Governor Election, 2008 Results |
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In October 2004, Cabello was elected to a four-year term as Governor of Miranda State. He lost the 2008 election to Henrique Capriles Radonski, and was subsequently appointed Public Works & Housing Minister.
In 2009 he was additionally appointed head of Conatel. On 1 August 2009, 32 radio and 2 television stations were intervened, decision ordered by Cabello. The measure was received as an act of censorship by several non-governmental and international organizations.
On 11 December 2011, Cabello was installed as the Vice-President of the United Socialist Party (PSUV), thus becoming the second most powerful figure in the party after Hugo Chávez.
Cabello was appointed president of the National Assembly in early 2012 and was re-elected to that post in January 2013.
Cabello’s status after the death of Hugo Chávez was disputed. Some argue that Cabello was constitutionally required to be the acting President, but Nicolás Maduro held the position.
Often described as the second most, if not the most, powerful man in Venezuela, Reuters notes that Cabello possesses significant "sway with the military and lawmakers plus close links to businessmen." Despite serving as the leader of Chavez' party, his overall reputation is that of a pragmatist rather than an ideologue.
Television program
Cabello has his own weekly program on Venezolana de Televisión, Con el Mazo Dando (Going at it with the Club). In that program, Cabello talks about the government's view on many political issues and presents accusations against the opposition. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has expressed concerns about how the program has intimidated people that went to the IACHR denouncing the government. Some Venezuelan commentators have compared the use of illegally recorded private conversations on programs such as Cabello's to the practices in place in the East Germany as shown in the film The Life of Others.
Amnesty International has denounced the way in which Cabello has revealed details on the travel arrangements of two human rights defenders in his program and how he routinely shows state monitoring of people that may disagree with the government.
Personal life
His wife, Marleny Contreras, was elected as a member of the National Assembly until she became minister of tourism in 2015. Cabello’s sister, Glenna, is a political scientist and was Counsellor of the Venezuelan Permanent Mission to the United Nations. His brother, José David, previously minister of infrastructure, is in charge of the nation’s taxes as head of SENIAT, Venezuela’s revenue service. Now José David is also minister of Industries.
On 9 July 2020, Cabello tested positive for COVID-19, during the pandemic in Venezuela.
See also
In Spanish: Diosdado Cabello para niños
