In Venezuela the rich were never destroyed, I'd argue that Chavez and his supporters rose into a new class of elites. They control the oil company, drug smuggling, etc. I'd argue that wealth as a zero sum game is a part of the premise - there is the whole pie (economy) and then there are slices (who reaps the benefits).

By growing the size of the pie you grow the economy, but then the task becomes dividing the pie reasonably to ensure stability and reduce societal problems. In Venezuela, the economy is shafted for numerous reasons - huge concentration of the whole pie into a small elite does no good for the rest of the country, and was worsened by sanctions punishing these actions.