Chavista dissident accuses Delcy Rodríguez of trading Venezuela’s resources to save herself

María Alejandra Díaz says Venezuela’s ruling circle is trading away the country’s resources to protect itself from prosecution. In her first interview since leaving for Colombia, the constitutional lawyer directed her strongest accusation at Delcy Rodríguez.

“Delcy Rodríguez está entregando los recursos de Venezuela para salvar su pellejo” means “Delcy Rodríguez is handing over Venezuela’s resources to save her own skin,” Díaz told El Nacional. She said Delcy Rodríguez, Jorge Rodríguez and Interior and Justice Minister Diosdado Cabello were trying to protect themselves, and suggested their actions could reflect an agreement with Donald Trump.

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Delcy Rodríguez is handing over Venezuela’s resources to save her own skin.

Díaz left Venezuela a year earlier after becoming the target of persecution from within the ruling establishment. She had criticized the Anti-Blockade Law and demanded the publication of records from the July 28, 2024 presidential election. She now argues that abrupt changes in government policy cannot be explained simply by coercion.

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They are exchanging the country’s resources to save themselves. Otherwise, there is no explanation for the abrupt changes. They are saving their own skin and intend to sell what remains of Maduroism the idea that they are doing it to survive and retain power.

She also raised the possibility that the Rodríguez siblings negotiated Nicolás Maduro’s capture early in the year, during what she described as a major U.S. military incursion into Caracas. Díaz questioned why authorities failed to defend Venezuela’s sovereignty and prevent Maduro’s transfer to New York, where he faces drug-trafficking charges.

Díaz said the National Assembly should have declared an absolute vacancy and called elections. She argued that the disputed presidential election two years ago helped create the current situation and said Delcy Rodríguez was carrying out the plan of opposition leader María Corina Machado. “Any hypothesis of betrayal or surrender gains strength from the facts,” she said. Díaz added that Delcy Rodríguez could win a presidential election only through fraud.

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Any hypothesis of betrayal or surrender gains strength from the facts.