Chavista grassroots react with disappointment and confusion after Delcy Rodríguez’s oil deal with the U.S.

The oil agreement that will allow the commercialization of Venezuelan crude oil under U.S. control provoked a reaction of disappointment and bewilderment among the chavismo rank and file, who expressed their discomfort on social networks after the announcement released by PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company.

In the comments to the communiqué, numerous Chavista supporters questioned why Washington would decide the fate of Venezuelan oil after the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro. "So now we are colonized, and they decide everything? This makes no sense," said one user clearly identified as a chavista. Another showed more indignation: "They killed us Venezuelans, destroyed the country, and now we reward them by giving them oil."

The feeling of deception for Chavista supporters was recurrent. "The order was always clear: not a drop of oil. This is not to be believed," said another supporter, while several messages pointed to the contradiction between the anti-U.S. discourse of the regime's top hierarchs sustained for years and the new reality of the agreement.

The reaction was also echoed among regional leaders. In a video posted on social networks, Joana Sanchez, governor of Aragua state, appeared visibly affected and spoke of "betrayal" after Maduro's capture and the announcement of the oil scheme, a message that quickly went viral among Pro-Chávez supporters.

In contrast, Diosdado Cabello, Chavismo's number two and Minister of the Interior, is wanted by the U.S. for drug trafficking. He has not commented on the agreement, despite publicly warning days earlier that Venezuelan oil would not be delivered to the United States.

"Not a drop of oil can leave here for the United States if they attack Venezuela," Cabello had said last week. However, this same Wednesday, he gave his backing to Venezuela's de facto leader, Delcy Rodriguez, chosen by Washington to lead a tutelary transition.

In that path, the agreement with the U.S. exposed a fracture in the narrative of chavismo, which for more than two decades made oil sovereignty and the confrontation with Washington one of its discursive axes to revive its base, now disappointed and frustrated with its leaders after the capture of Maduro.