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.

He was the second and last president of the 2017 National Constituent Assembly Cabello has been accused by Venezuelan defectors and pro-opposition media of being a major figure in the Cartel of the Suns,[5][6] using nepotism to reward friends and family members,[7] and directing colectivos while paying them with funds from Petróleos de Venezuela.

[9] On 26 March 2020, the U.S. Department of State offered $10 million for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction by the US in relation to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.

[10][non-primary source needed] Described in 2013 as the second most powerful man in Venezuela,[11][12] Reuters wrote in 2012 that Cabello possessed significant "sway with the military and lawmakers plus close links to businessmen.

[1] While at Instituto Universitario Politécnico de las Fuerzas Armadas Nacionales, Cabello befriended Hugo Chávez and they played on the same baseball team.

[18] 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.

[20] 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.

[30] Often described as the second most,[11][12] if not the most,[citation needed] powerful man in Venezuela, Reuters notes that Cabello possesses significant "sway with the military and lawmakers plus close links to businessmen.

[34] 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.

[35] 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.

[38] His brother, José David, previously minister of infrastructure, is in charge of the nation’s taxes as head of SENIAT, Venezuela’s revenue service.

[40] He was described by a contributor to The Atlantic as the "Frank Underwood" of Venezuela under whose watch the National Assembly of Venezuela has made a habit of ignoring constitutional hurdles entirely—at various times preventing opposition members from speaking in session, suspending their salaries, stripping particularly problematic legislators of parliamentary immunity, and, on one occasion, even presiding over the physical beating of unfriendly lawmakers while the assembly was meeting.

[10][non-primary source needed] In mid-July 2017, reporters in Washington, D.C. observed an increased security presence surrounding United States Senator Marco Rubio.

[51][52] In September 2024, a federal court in Buenos Aires issued an arrest warrant against Cabello and several other Venezuelan officials for crimes against humanity.

[54][55] The sanctions were for behaviors that undermined democracy after at least 125 people were killed in the 2017 Venezuelan protests and "in response to the government of Venezuela's deepening descent into dictatorship".

[58] On 18 May 2018, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury placed sanctions in effect against Cabello, his wife, his brother and his "testaferro" Rafael Sarria.

[61][62] The Mexican Senate froze the assets of officials of the Maduro administration, including Cabello, and prohibited them from entering Mexico on 20 April 2018.