Key Sentence:
- On June 13, 49-year-old Colombian businessman Alex Saab, whose hair is thin but with a black tail.
- Stopped at Amilcar Cabral Airport in Cape Verde, on a small West African archipelago, to refuel his plane.
Quitting is a risk. Saab is a target for Interpol and the United States as a businessman (now operating in Venezuela) with the tools and expertise to keep the entire economy creeping under intense scrutiny.
While Saab is not a household name outside of Latin America. Venezuelan Money has risen to become a key cog in Venezuela’s national cash machine, an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and someone. Who has worked as a lead corrector for the country’s housing and food programs. The last decade, juggling contacts, companies and bank accounts around the world.
The US Department of Justice has accused Saab of money laundering and has transferred more than $350 million through US accounts.
A London-based US source with knowledge of Venezuelan Money internal affairs called Saab “one of the evil geniuses of the Maduro government. Still, his lawyer said he was Venezuela’s “special envoy,” a “businessman” who imports food and drink. Against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Originally a named businessman in his native Colombia who sold branded stationery. Saab’s revival in Venezuela began with a housing development program in 2007 and culminated when US President Trump’s sanctions were imposed on Venezuela in 2019. Preventing foreign energy companies from using it to cooperate with the state. . oil giant PDVSA.
Much to the dismay of the Trump and Biden administrations, Saab, a creative and capable businessman. Found a way to navigate Venezuela’s trade in things like food, oil, and gold between the loopholes of US scrutiny. It turns out stopping in West Africa in June is more than just a risk. Interpol arrested Saab in Cape Verde, where he is still being held today.
The US and Interpol are working on extraditing Saab to the US to deal with money laundering.
They hoped Saab would shed light on Venezuela’s economic network under pressure after the sanctions. On September 7, the balance shifted in favor of the United States. When the Cape Verde Constitutional Court finally approved the extradition of Alex Saab to the United States after a year and a half. A Saab lawyer claims his client is protected by diplomatic immunity and politically motivated charges and extradition.
For the United States, Saab is the key that unlocks Venezuela’s currency problem – namely. How a country is facing sanctions from the United States, Britain, and the European Union – is still capable of doing things like exporting gold and oil. According to Alberto Ray, director of the Florida-based nonprofit research group The Risk Awareness Council. Saab is a “focal point” for illegal cash flows between broker networks. That evade not only sanctions but entire global trading regimes. Like oil and gold.
It is a product of Venezuela’s recent history – namely, the 2007-2008 oil crash, the death of Hugo Chavez in 2013. And Trump’s imposition of US sanctions on Venezuela in 2019 – and is, in fact, the only person who has done so. It can explain how the country survives today.