MIAMI -- For the first time, NBC6 talked exclusively with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's ex-wife.

Some Venezuelans have fled their country because of Chavez, a controversial leader, and many of them have ended up in South Florida.

From first lady to outspoken opponent, Marisabel Rodriguez divorced the 53-year-old former soldier in 2003. She said when they started on the road to the presidency, Chavez's ideas were much different.

"You realize there was a dramatic change," Rodriguez said in Spanish. "What good were all those promises, all those expectations? Power and vengeance cannot go together."

Chavez, whose mentor and ally is Fidel Castro, has labeled the U.S. as the imperialistic state, called President George W. Bush "the devil" in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, and even has threatened to halt oil shipments to the U.S. Yet Rodriguez said the current Venezuelan government is corrupt. Chavez's allegations of corruption in the U.S. ring hollow to his former wife.

"There has been much injustice, much corruption going on in the government," she said. "They encourage you to report corruption, but if you do, they cut your head off."

Rodriguez, who has a daughter with the Socialist leader, said she is so opposed to Chavez's reforms and the pervasive corruption in Venezuela that she is seriously considering running for office. As a result, she said its government has leveled death threats at her.

"There have absolutely been death threats against me, ordering me to keep quiet, to behave," she said.

But Rodriguez said she would not back down. She said she is not afraid, even though guards were taken away from her after her divorce. Her daughter still receives protection.