MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Alleged Maduro frontman benefits from prisoner swap with US

“I am proud to serve the people of Venezuela and to serve this Government,” Saab said once in Caracas

Colombian businessman Alex Saab, who is said to be a frontman for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, was released from jail Wednesday by the United States in exchange for several Americans detained by Caracas together with other political prisoners.

Saab was extradited on Oct. 16, 2021, from Cape Verde to the United States, to face money-laundering charges. He had been arrested in Cape Verde, on June 12, 2020. ”At the time of his illegal capture, Saab was traveling to Iran as a diplomatic agent of the Venezuelan State, in order to facilitate the acquisition of food due to the impact of the Unilateral Coercive Measures (MCU) against the Local Supply and Production Committees (Clap), a mechanism for articulation with communities that distributes food to more than 7 million families,“ Venezuela's Foreign Ministry explained.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he expected ”good news“ about his compatriots imprisoned in Venezuela, with whom Washington has had rapprochements despite not having formal diplomatic relations. ”We want to make sure our fellow Americans are freed. We are also focusing on political prisoners in Venezuela and trying to secure their release,“ he said.

Among the released Venezuelans was a group of trade unionists detained in July 2022, including Roberto Abdul, a member of the NGO Súmate.

In October this year, the Venezuelan government agreed to set the presidential elections for the second half of 2024 with international observation and to create a mechanism to lift political disenfranchisements. In response, the Joseph Biden administration temporarily lifted an oil embargo imposed in 2019.

In Caracas, Maduro welcomed Saab at the Miraflores Palace after more than 1,280 days in jail. ”The only truth is that Alex Saab's only crime was overcoming criminal sanctions, seeking medicine in times of pandemic,“ the Venezuelan leader said.

”I want to welcome this brave, patriotic man, who resisted 1,280 days, 40 months, the most adverse, most painful conditions, kidnapping, filthy prisons, physical torture, psychological torture, threats, lies; and after 1,280 days of kidnapping, the truth has triumphed, justice has triumphed,“ he went on.

Maduro insisted he knew ”this day had to come, and this day came“ as a result of the Barbados agreements.

”All the medicines you were looking for, Alex, arrived in town; all the vaccines arrived in town. While you were kidnapped and tortured in Cape Verde, infamous Cape Verde, all those vaccines and medicines arrived. When that tremendous crisis due to the blockade, all the gasoline that you got in the world arrived,“ he went on.

He also admitted he had a deal with former president Donald Trump for Saab's release but ”he lost the elections and there was a change of government, then we had to start all over again, but with Donald Trump, we already had an agreement ready.“

Saab stated that ”life is a constant miracle and today the miracle of freedom, the miracle of justice, has become a reality.“

”Thanks to the people of Venezuela. I am proud to serve the people of Venezuela and to serve this Government, a humane Government, a loyal Government, a Government that does not abandon and a Government that, like me, never gives up,“ Saab pointed out.

In Washington DC, Biden announced that 10 Americans held in Venezuela were coming home while fugitive Leonard Francis is being returned to the United States.

”Today, 10 Americans who have been detained in Venezuela have been released and are coming home, including all six wrongfully detained Americans. These individuals have lost far too much precious time with their loved ones, and their families have suffered every day in their absence. I am grateful that their ordeal is finally over and that these families are being made whole once more,“ the US President said in a statement.

The released Americans included Eyvin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore, Joseph Cristella, and Savoi Wright, along with former Green Berets Luke Denman and Airan Berry.

Francis, also known as ”Fat Leonard,” is a former defense contractor believed to be involved in one of the largest bribery scandals in US history.