Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Friday named a close ally who was pardoned by US President Joe Biden last year as part of a prisoner exchange and who was pardoned following a commitment that Venezuela would hold fair presidential elections in 2024. appointed to the cabinet.
President Maduro has appointed Alex Saab as Minister of Industry and National Production, tasked with promoting “the development of Venezuela’s entire industrial system within the framework of” what he calls a “new economic model.”
President Maduro made the announcement on the messaging app Telegram.
Saab had been detained since 2020, but returned to Venezuela as a free man in December after Cape Verdean authorities arrested him on a U.S. warrant on money laundering charges. U.S. prosecutors have long viewed him as a thorn in Mr. Maduro’s side.
The president secured his release and pardon in an agreement with the Biden administration. In exchange for Saab, President Maduro released 10 Americans and a fugitive defense contractor known as “Fat Leonard,” who was wanted as the central figure in a massive Pentagon bribery scandal.
The release of American prisoners, the largest in Venezuela’s history, comes as the White House grants a broad reprieve from economic sanctions to Venezuela, following President Maduro’s promise to work with opposition forces for free and fair conditions for the 2024 presidential election. This took place a few weeks after the admission.
The United States ended sanctions relief earlier this year as hopes for democratic opening faded.
Last month, it sanctioned 16 allies of President Maduro for interfering with voting and committing human rights abuses in response to Venezuela’s highly contentious July presidential election.
Saab was arrested in 2020 during a refueling stop while en route to Iran to negotiate an oil deal on behalf of Maduro’s government.
The U.S. charge was money laundering conspiracy in connection with a bribery scheme that siphoned off $350 million through state contracts to build affordable housing.
Saab was also sanctioned for allegedly running a scheme to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from food import contracts during a time when hunger was widespread due to food shortages, primarily in the South American country.
After his arrest, Maduro’s government said Saab was a special envoy on a humanitarian mission and was entitled to diplomatic immunity from criminal prosecution under international law.
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