Maduro appointed Alex Saab as minister

Alex Saab, once imprisoned in the United States for money laundering and allegedly being Nicolás Maduro’s key figure, was named Minister of Industry and National Production this Friday, replacing Pedro Telechea , was unexpectedly dismissed after only two months in office. Saab was released in a prisoner exchange between Caracas and Washington in December 2023, following several agreements between the two countries, including the holding of presidential elections in July this year.

Saab, a businessman from Barranquilla who arrived in Venezuela in the mid-2000s in search of fortune, obtained important contracts with Chavismo, such as food box distribution boxes called CLAP. In parallel, it was in charge of the construction of public housing. For a long time he was a shadow businessman, although very connected to Maduro and the entire leadership of the Venezuelan government. However, his name came to light in an investigation by the Armando.info portal into poor quality of CLAP with expired milk and other products, which was later linked to corruption.

Maduro reported the appointment via Telegram, where he said that Saab would “promote the development of the entire industrial system of Venezuela within the framework of the process of building a new economic model” and that he would receive “all the support for this huge task.” The US justice system has always suspected that Saab is a front man for the Venezuelan president, helping him hide huge assets. The Colombian was arrested in Cape Verde in June 2020. , where he stopped to refuel his plane returning from Tehran. He was arrested and later deported to Miami. The FBI had been looking for him for some time.

Saab is a controversial personality. When the first stories related to corruption cases began to emerge, the Maduro government maintained a very low profile regarding its existence. There was something ghostly about Saab. After his arrest in Cape Verde, everything intensified. Maduro said that because he was a diplomat, his capture was a violation of international law. Chavismo began its campaign for liberation with an urgency unknown in the 25 years of the Bolivarian Revolution. The streets of Venezuelan cities were filled with graffiti with the legend “Free Saab” over the silhouette of his face. The matter became another conflict between Washington and Caracas.

Saab arrived in Venezuela after several failed businesses in his hometown of Barranquilla. Through the Colombian senator Piedad Córdoba he entered Chavismo, where better fortunes awaited him. Córdoba, close to Chávez, brokered the release of people kidnapped by FARC guerrillas, a humanitarian gesture that led to him being persecuted by the Colombian right wing for the rest of his life, until his death earlier this year. Saab fell at his feet in the court of Chávez, who had only two years to live. In fact, in a 2011 video, he is seen posing as a Colombian businessman signing a bilateral agreement between Chávez and Juan Manuel Santos. This was the beginning of his immersion in the environment of Chávez and later in the environment of Maduro himself.

Saab’s unexpected appointment comes at a time of change in Chavismo, following the controversy that Chavismo has sustained with almost the rest of the world unaware of its victory in the presidential elections. The election authority CNE has refused to present evidence of Maduro’s alleged victory against opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez. After what happened, Diosdado Cabello, one of the most important people of the ruling party, was placed as Minister of the Interior, the party behind the repression carried out against the opposition and citizens demonstrating against electoral fraud.

Additionally, the directors of two intelligence agencies, SEBIN (civilian) and DGCIM (military), were dismissed this week. Both were in post for a decade. These days, the continuity of Tarek William Saab as head of the Prosecutor’s Office is also being questioned, which would mean removing from the relevant post a historical figure who also belonged to Chávez’s close circles. Saab was publicly outlawed by the Venezuelan government after he said on television that Brazilian President Lula was a CIA agent.

The story of a businessman lasts for ten lives. According to the book, he married a local Palestinian family, with whom he set up a jeans factory Alex sir, true, By researcher Gerardo Reyes. He later opened a small towel factory with 3,000 workers. Reyes says that the economic opening-up policy of liberal President César Gaviria (1990–1994) flooded the market with Chinese clothing and pushed to bankruptcy the business that had been one of the symbols of Barranquilla until that moment.

The golden dream of the young people of that city, where the children of the petty bourgeoisie and drug traffickers lived together in private schools, out of the radar of the authorities who had spent all their energy persecuting Pablo Escobar, was destined to Was to be made in Miami. Saab was no exception. In 1995 he formed a company to expand his father’s towel business. However, in a confusing incident in which a customs officer found cocaine in a liquid solution dispersed in one of their shipments, the adventure ended. Saab was unable to re-enter the United States.

Returning to Barranquilla, he founded a company selling advertising merchandise for supermarkets and gas stations. Business seemed to be doing well until 2009, when banks and creditors started pursuing him. According to the documents of that time, he was a bankrupt at that time. According to Reyes’ story, that’s when he was introduced to Alvaro Pulido, a Bogotá-based construction magnate who was doing great work in Venezuela.

Here begins the story of ghost companies, tax havens, officials who allowed themselves to be bribed. As partners, they took advantage of Cadevi, a Venezuelan system designed to control the foreign exchange of companies importing goods, which could be used to multiply the dollars on the black market by four or five if the goods went bad. Permission was given to do so. Saab bet $30 million on this business plan at an unfortunate moment: Chávez stopped all Cadevi payments to Colombian companies because of his confrontation with neighboring President Álvaro Uribe.

Over time, Saab became the do-gooder, the guy who was able to do any business, avoid any American restrictions: a getter, the guy to call when there was a problem. While he was detained, his second wife, former model Camila Fabbri, remained in Venezuela. The Maduro government protected it and in fact promoted it. He appointed her as negotiator with the United States in the Mexico talks and most recently, she was a judge for a televised music contest in which Maduro’s campaign song was chosen.