Nearly a month after U.S. military forces intervened in Venezuela and removed Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores from power, the country’s political landscape continues to shift in ways that feel both dramatic and deeply familiar. While the former presidential couple awaits trial in a New York prison, the new authorities in Caracas are steadily rearranging the Cabinet, consolidating power among a small circle of trusted figures from the heart of Chavismo. The latest move, announced with the slogan “Venezuela open to the world,” is the appointment of Daniella Cabello as Minister of Tourism, a decision that has raised eyebrows at home and abroad.
Cabello is the daughter of Diosdado Cabello, one of the most powerful and controversial figures of the Bolivarian Revolution. Her elevation to the Cabinet strengthens her father’s already formidable influence within the new political order taking shape under acting president Delcy Rodríguez. Far from signaling a break with the past, the appointment underscores the persistence of political dynasties in Venezuela, even after the unprecedented shock of foreign intervention and regime change.
At 33, Daniella Cabello Contreras represents a younger, more media-savvy face of Chavismo. Unlike her two brothers, who have largely avoided public exposure, she has embraced a political and cultural profile that blends activism, entertainment, and social media. She is a member of the youth wing of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and, over the past two years, has headed both the Country Brand Institute and the Venezuelan Export Promotion Agency. Before that, she had a brief career as a singer and worked as a producer on “Con el mazo dando,” the combative television program hosted by her father.
Her public image is carefully curated. On social networks, she presents herself as a digital influencer, sharing moments of family life, her enthusiasm for padel tennis, and flashes of glamour that contrast sharply with Venezuela’s prolonged economic and humanitarian crisis. She is married to reggaeton singer Omar Acedo, a frequent contributor to government propaganda campaigns, further blurring the lines between politics, culture, and messaging in the post-Maduro era.
Yet Cabello’s appointment carries significant international baggage. She is on the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions list, targeted by the Biden administration in November 2024 for her alleged involvement in acts of repression during protests that followed disputed election results. Those sanctions were imposed alongside measures against other officials, including Alexis Rodríguez Cabello, a cousin of Diosdado Cabello and head of intelligence. Diosdado himself has long been sanctioned, and in 2025 Washington went further, offering a $25 million reward for information leading to his capture. Against this backdrop, naming his daughter to a ministerial post sends a pointed signal about who still holds sway in Caracas.
Cabello replaces Leticia Gómez, a Cuban national appointed by Maduro during a Cabinet reshuffle after the July 28, 2024 presidential elections. Gómez was considered close to the Cabello family, particularly to Diosdado Cabello’s wife, Marley Contreras, who previously held the tourism portfolio. But Gómez also played a strategic role as a conduit between Caracas and Havana, a relationship that has been crucial for the Cuban regime’s survival. Since January 3 and the imposition of new sanctions by Donald Trump, Cuba’s situation has become even more precarious, and Gómez’s removal may indicate a recalibration of that alliance under mounting pressure from Washington.
Tourism may seem like a relatively soft portfolio, but in Venezuela’s current context it carries symbolic weight. The sector is meant to project an image of openness, normalcy, and economic recovery to the outside world. Placing it in the hands of a sanctioned figure from one of the revolution’s most powerful families highlights the tension between that outward message and the realities of internal power consolidation.
The same day Cabello’s appointment was announced, Delcy Rodríguez made another move with clear diplomatic implications: naming former foreign minister Félix Plasencia as Venezuela’s diplomatic representative in Washington. Plasencia, currently ambassador to the United Kingdom, is a trusted ally of Rodríguez and a familiar face to U.S. officials. His new role was confirmed by Foreign Minister Yvan Gil, who said Plasencia and his team would take up their posts in the coming days.
Plasencia had already been involved in high-level contacts with the United States. Earlier this week, he participated in a meeting between Delcy Rodríguez and Laura Dogu, the new U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Caracas. According to Dogu’s account on the embassy’s official X account, the American side reiterated Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s framework for Venezuela: stabilization, economic recovery, and reconciliation leading to a transition. The appointment of a seasoned diplomat to Washington suggests an effort to manage the relationship pragmatically, even as sanctions and legal cases loom large.
Reshuffles have also extended into the health sector, where the changes have been more abrupt. Magaly Gutiérrez Viña, a lawyer closely tied to Cilia Flores’s inner circle and formerly her daughter-in-law, has exited the Cabinet altogether. Until recently, she simultaneously led the Ministry of Health and the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security, two vast and troubled institutions. Rodríguez initially announced that Narumy Gutiérrez would replace her at the Health Ministry while Gutiérrez Viña would remain at Social Security. That arrangement has now been scrapped, with former health minister Carlos Alvarado appointed to the latter post. Both new appointees are doctors with experience in public health, a nod toward technocratic competence amid political upheaval.
The Supreme Court of Justice has justified these moves as ensuring administrative continuity, but the broader pattern is unmistakable. Acting president Rodríguez is reshaping the Cabinet she inherited from Maduro, bringing in members of her own circle of business associates, loyalists, and technocrats while marginalizing figures tied too closely to the old presidential family.
Despite the turbulence, the core of power remains remarkably stable. Rodríguez governs alongside her brother Jorge Rodríguez, head of Parliament and chief political strategist, and Diosdado Cabello, who retains control over the party apparatus and security structures. Together, they form what is still known as the political high command of the revolution. As coverage in outlets such as El Pais has noted, even after invasion, arrests, and international pressure, Venezuela’s ruling elite has shown a striking ability to adapt without truly letting go.
