India, Jan. 9 -- CARACAS, Venezuela, January 9 - With Nicolas Maduro in U.S. custody, Washington's immediate challenge in Venezuela is a man long described as the regime's powerful enforcer: Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. Named directly beneath Maduro in a sweeping U.S. indictment and now controlling the country's internal security forces, Cabello stands at the centre of a precarious struggle between maintaining order and confronting American power.

A 62-year-old former army officer, Cabello is one of the last surviving pillars of Hugo Chavez's original inner circle. He participated in Chavez's 1992 coup attempt and helped build the political movement that reshaped Venezuela. His career includes briefly serving as president during t...