Early in the morning, the Associated Press reported that Joe Biden's government had decided to release a main middleman for dictator Nicolás Maduro, Alex Saab, in exchange for the release of 12 Americans and other political prisoners.
Saab's arrival in Caracas is imminent, and he will be welcomed by the Chavista dictatorship. On the other hand, it is still not known in detail what the regime's concessions were for this immense political triumph (at this time I am writing this, two political prisoners have already been freed).
Alex Saab was not just another corrupt member of the regime. Arrested on June 12, 2020, when his plane landed in Cape Verde to refuel, he was extradited in October of that same year to the United States. The outgoing Trump administration celebrated the capture and described it as a great blow to Maduro.
Formally accused of one of the largest money laundering schemes in the Western Hemisphere, in addition to fraud and a food scam in Venezuela, a country experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the history of the South American continent, Saab's role in Maduro's dictatorship goes far beyond acts of corruption.
Saab landed in Cape Verde because he was traveling from Caracas to Tehran. It was a frequent route from Caracas to Moscow. In fact, after landing in Tehran, his next destination was Russia.
According to American authorities, Saab was in charge of negotiating trade agreements between the Maduro regime and the Iranian theocracy: "The 48-year-old [Saab is now 51] is helping cut deals to exchange Venezuelan gold for Iranian gasoline and other oil products," said The Wall Street Journal.
A source "familiar with the case" told The Wall Street Journal that Saab was actually the main financier and middleman for the regime, and the man in charge of several key international operations.
"The person familiar with Mr. Saab’s case in the U.S. said the businessman is also believed to have created a vast financial network to move money on Caracas’ behalf, using bank accounts in a host of countries including Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Malaysia and China," wrote WSJ journalist Kejal Vyas.
Consequently, the arrest of Alex Saab and his extradition to a Florida prison was the harshest blow that the White House had dealt to the Chavista regime and its transnational criminal operations in years.
Today, Dec. 20, after the AP and Reuters confirmed Saab's release, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One that "sometimes that means you’ve got make some difficult decisions" to free Americans imprisoned unfairly overseas.
This time, no matter how much they want to sell themselves as the opposite, it is clear people are celebrating in Miraflores.
Since Saab's capture, the Maduro regime dedicated every effort, every day, to achieving his release. Although before June 2020, they denied having any relationship with Saab, after Cape Verde they named him a special diplomat, appointed him a member of negotiation tables with the opposition and started a very intense national and international campaign for his release.
For three years, despite efforts, threats and pressure, the Maduro regime achieved nothing, until today. Thanks to Biden, who has helped free a man who will be welcomed with honor by the gang of drug traffickers and human rights violators in Caracas.
No one can say the opposite. It is an absolute triumph for Nicolás Maduro.
"Although the releases could be seen as a step by Maduro to comply with U.S. demands, the return of Saab would mark a victory for Maduro," Reuters said.
Marshall S. Billingslea, former Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing at the Department of the Treasury, a former Trump administration official and one of the Americans who most investigated Saab, reacted this afternoon to the news of the release: "Alex Saab is easily one of the worst and most corrupt front men for the Venezuelan regime. His release strikes a serious blow to U.S. credibility in the fight against corruption."
"It sends a disastrous signal to our cooperating partner countries, believing that Saab would face justice, no more than Cape Verde, who extradited him despite pressure from the Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan regimes," Billingslea added.
He also said: "Worse, it's a punch in the stomach for the Venezuelan opposition. We are supposedly their friends, but we just let free one of the worst boligarch thieves."
There will be releases of political prisoners in Venezuela. And we say the same as always: The release of political prisoners will never cease to be good news. But, unfortunately, they are nothing more than tokens in a macabre game that is not new and that can be perpetuated as Maduro's tyranny has perpetuated.
Today the message that Biden is sending to Maduro is clear: arrest, oppress, hold many hostages so that later you can get favors or achieve your political objectives.
This is how it has always been.
