As Nicolás Maduro’s vice chairman in Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez as soon as accused her political rival of planning at hand over the nation’s riches — its huge oil reserves — to the US.

“They’re her homeowners,” Rodriguez stated in 2024 of María Corina Machado, then the U.S.-backed opposition chief. “Her grasp offers her orders to do what? At hand over the oil, the gasoline, the gold … at hand over and trample on our historic dignity.”