The interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguezdismissed the businessman on Friday Alex Saabaccused of being a front man for the deposed president Nicolás Maduro, as Minister of Industry.
The change comes amid pressure from Washington following the January 3 attacks.
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Saab was released from prison in 2023 for USA as part of an agreement that included the release of 10 Americans imprisoned in Venezuela and in October 2024 Maduro appointed him Minister of Industry.
Rodríguez announced the merger of the ministries of Industries and National Production and that of National Commerce, which will be headed by Luis Antonio Villegas.
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“I thank colleague Álex Saab for his work in the service of the Homeland; who will assume new responsibilities”the president wrote on Telegram.
Saab, originally from Colombia, began to be linked to the Venezuelan government in the last years of Hugo Chávez’s administration (1999-2013), and managed a gigantic import network for the Maduro government.
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, with businessman Alex Saab at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on December 20, 2023. (Photo by Federico Parra / AFP)
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He was in charge of importing food from the government program known as CLAP, marred by allegations of corruption.
He was arrested in 2020 in Cape Verde and extradited to the United States in October 2021. The US justice system accused him of laundering funds obtained illegally in Venezuela through the United States.
Caracas denied these accusations by stating that Saab was a “hero” who brought food to the country amid US sanctions.
Saab’s arrest was described as a “kidnapping” by the Venezuelan government, which claimed that he was a special envoy from Caracas and that his diplomatic immunity was violated.
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Saab’s dismissal adds to a series of changes in key ministries announced by Rodríguez after the capture of Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Floresafter US attacks in Caracas and neighboring cities.
