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The government of Venezuela on Saturday (local time) announced the deportation of businessman and former minister Alex Saab, citing ongoing criminal investigations against him in the United States.
In a post on X, the Venezuelan Migration Authority (SAIME) released a statement by the government, which stated, "The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reports the deportation of the citizen of Colombian nationality Alex Naim Saab Moran, carried out on May 16, 2026, in compliance with the regulatory provisions of Venezuelan immigration legislation." https://x.com/VenezuelaSaime/status/2055773731222397071 The statement added that the deportation was carried out because Saab "is involved in the commission of various crimes in the United States of America, as is public, notorious, and communicational." According to a report by The New York Times, Saab's extradition "marks an escalation of a purge by Venezuela's new acting president, Delcy Rodriguez," targeting figures who had helped former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro remain in power for years. The news report said that Rodriguez, who previously served as Maduro's vice president, removed Saab from his position as industry minister shortly after Maduro was captured and taken to the United States earlier this year. According to The New York Times, Saab was detained by Venezuelan authorities in February at the request of the Trump administration, highlighting growing US influence over Venezuela's transitional leadership. US prosecutors have accused Saab of enriching himself through lucrative government contracts and using shell companies and no-bid contracts to divert funds intended to address Venezuela's economic crisis. The news report also noted that Saab, born in Colombia before acquiring Venezuelan citizenship, had previously been extradited to the United States from Cape Verde in 2021 on money-laundering charges. He spent nearly two years in prison before being pardoned in 2023 by former US President Joe Biden as part of a prisoner exchange involving Americans detained in Venezuela. According to the New York Times, Saab's dual Colombian and Venezuelan citizenship was initially believed to complicate any extradition process because Venezuela's constitution prohibits extradition process the extradition of its own citizens. However, the news report noted that legal experts pointed to provisions in a 1922 treaty between the United States and Venezuela that could potentially allow exceptions. The New York Times further reported that speculation emerged in Venezuela that Saab may have been stripped of his Venezuelan citizenship before the extradition proceeded. Venezuela's government, meanwhile, referred to Saab only as "a Colombian citizen who is implicated in committing several crimes in the United States of America, a fact that is widely known, notorious, and heavily documented in the media." (ANI)
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