[7/6/2026 10:51 PM] D K: Underlying Legal Confrontations While the U.S. is cooperating on immediate disaster relief, it continues to use underlying investigations as political leverage: [8, 9] • Draft Indictments: The U.S. Department of Justice has quietly built a legal case against Rodríguez with draft charges for corruption and money laundering linked to the state-run oil company, PDVSA. [10] • Drug Trade Tracking: The DEA maintains extensive, active investigative files linking her to historical gold smuggling and drug trafficking networks. [8, 11] The U.S. administration is currently prioritizing earthquake diplomacy to maintain its foothold in Venezuela, holding these corruption investigations in reserve as strategic pressure points. [1, 9]