Unusual Venezuela: After being released by the United States, Nicolás Maduro received Alex Saab at Miraflores Palace

Nicolás Maduro’s regime exchanged approximately 36 political prisoners for the release of Alex Saab, detained by US justice and considered the flagship of the Chavista regime, alleged frontman of the Venezuelan president detained for more than two years in the United States for various roles And He appoints him governor of Essequibo.

The alleged frontman He was received at the Maiquetía airport in Caracas by first lady Cilia Flores, the president of the Chavista National Assembly Jorge Flores, his wife Camila Fabri and their children.

Alex Saab was extradited from Cape Verde in 2021 and brought to the United States to stand trial. According to the former director of the US Treasury Department, Marshall Billingslea, Maduro’s figurehead has been sanctioned, accused of multiple criminal chargesarrested and extradited after several years of investigation by the Treasury Department, numerous law enforcement agencies and several nations in Latin America, Europe and Asia.

Marshall said the joint effort was to “disrupt his extensive money laundering network, which included wholesale thefts from the food program intended to feed malnourished Venezuelans (CLAP). He was trafficking looted gold from ecocidal open-pit mines” of ‘Orinoco.

In his account X Marshall adds that when he was arrested, he was in the midst of brokering agreements with Iran, the main sponsor of terrorism in the world. “Alex Saab is easily one of the worst and “The most corrupt figures in the Venezuelan regime”

“His release represents a serious blow to the credibility of the United States in the fight against corruption, especially in Latin America. It sends a disastrous signal to partner countries that cooperated with us, believing that Saab should have faced justice, no more than Cape Verde, which extradited him regardless. From the pressure of the Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan regimes,” he underlines.

“Worse, it is a “gut in the stomach” for the Venezuelan opposition. Supposedly we are friends with him, but we just freed one of the worst boligar thieves,” Marshall says.

exchange of prisoners

The prisoner exchange, which is part of Chavista politics, has gradually become known on social networks as the Venezuelan government maintains total secrecy on the issue.

In Venezuela there are around 300 political prisoners, of which only 36 have benefited from the current measure, including 12 Americanswhich are part of the Barbados agreements signed last October between the Venezuelan opposition and the government.

Among the 36 beneficiaries there are 20 prisoners who have been living in prison for a long time after 24 years of rule by the regime, of which 4 were recently detained, such as the 3 members who work in the team of María Corina Machado, recently detained for more than a week , which includes Roberto Abdul, director of Súmate, linked to the technical management of the opposition primaries.

Human rights lawyer Ana Leonor Acosta has 13 released so far. One from the INOF women’s prison, one from the Rodeo prison, 6 trade unionists from La Yaguara and 5 inmates from the Yare prison. In total there are 13 released in total, for now.

The names of the 6 union leaders released are: Alcides Bracho, Alonso Meléndez, Emilio Negrín, Gabriel Blanco, Néstor Astudillo and Reynaldo Cortés, who were detained in the Center for the Control and Protection of Prisoners in La Yaguara, Caracas. They had more than 500 days in prison after being wrongly sentenced to 16 years in prison for alleged criminal conspiracy.

Former opposition primary candidate Delsa Solorzano and human rights lawyer stated that “in Venezuela there are 300 political prisoners, Everyone deserves to be liberated. Subjecting them and their families to the anguish of not knowing whether or not this time it will be their turn to leave prison is another form of torture. Stop! “The “deal” should be that they release them all.”

María Corina Machado’s command would expect the release of three members of her team, namely Henry Alviarez, Claudia Macera and Pedro Urruchurtu. The qualification of the candidate would also be part of the negotiations in Barbados, but there has been no confirmation of the matter.

Roberto Deniz, investigative journalist of the Armando portal. Information, “Saab would have managed at least between 8,000 and 10,000 million dollars. This is for unbuilt houses, spoiled food and handling of gold/oil without any control. “This amount is three times what the United Nations is asking for to help with the – planned – humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.”

“This has been a priority for us and, more generally, when it comes to Venezuela, we want to make sure we free Americans and secure the release of political prisoners. We have a lot of work right now on these fronts and we hope to have good news today, but that’s all I can share for now,” Secretary Antony Blinken said at a news conference on the Maduro regime’s release of the Americans.

In addition to the exchange of prisoners (around 25 Venezuelans and 10 Americans), it is likely that the Supreme Court of Justice will give a preliminary ruling on the qualification process of opposition politicians, including that of María Corina Machado.