The Daily Journal – Acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, broke her silence regarding Alex Saab’s recent departure from the country, confirming that the government carried out an administrative deportation measure against him.
During the inauguration of several business ventures in Caracas, the head of state stressed that all actions taken by her administration are guided exclusively by the defense of the country’s sovereignty and stability.
“Any decision going forward, and any we have taken since assuming office following what happened on January 3, has been made in Venezuela’s interest, to defend Venezuela. There is no other consideration,” she stated categorically.
Rodríguez distanced the Venezuelan State from the legal situation of the former Minister of Industries: “Alex Saab is a citizen of Colombian origin. He served in Venezuela, and these are matters between the United States and Alex Saab.”
“We carried out an administrative deportation measure justified by national interests,” she added.
The acting head of state focused her remarks on reassuring the country: “The Venezuelan people can have confidence, and they should know that the primary and principal interest is Venezuela.”
Timeline of the Case
Alex Saab’s relationship with Venezuelan authorities began to solidify in 2011 following the signing of bilateral housing agreements between the governments of Hugo Chávez and Juan Manuel Santos. Beginning in 2016, he assumed a central role in the supply structure of the Local Committees for Supply and Production (CLAP), the state-run subsidized food distribution program.
At the same time, judicial authorities in the United States and Colombia launched investigations into his corporate network. In July 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice formally charged him in the Southern District of Florida with alleged money laundering linked to a bribery and overbilling scheme. Simultaneously, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned him and froze his financial assets.
On June 12, 2020, the case took on a definitive international dimension when Saab was arrested on Sal Island, in the African archipelago of Cape Verde, after the private jet he was traveling in made a technical refueling stop. The arrest was carried out pursuant to an Interpol Red Notice issued at the request of U.S. authorities.
From that point onward, the Venezuelan government publicly assumed Saab’s defense, formally declaring that he held the status of “special envoy” and “diplomat” of the Republic, arguing that he was on a humanitarian mission to procure food and medicine.
For 16 months, his legal team waged an intense legal battle before local courts and the ECOWAS Court of Justice to prevent his transfer, claiming sovereign immunity, while Saab remained under strict house arrest in the African nation.
After legal remedies in Cape Verde were exhausted, the country’s Supreme Court authorized the transfer. On October 16, 2021, Alex Saab was extradited to the United States, where he appeared before Miami courts to face conspiracy charges related to money laundering. In response to his extradition, the Venezuelan government’s official delegation immediately suspended its participation in dialogue talks with the opposition taking place in Mexico at the time.
During the criminal proceedings in Florida, Saab’s defense maintained that diplomatic status should invalidate the case. However, in late 2022, federal judge Robert Scola rejected the diplomatic immunity argument, noting that Washington did not formally recognize such status. Litigation continued throughout 2023, moving toward a potential trial.
The judicial outcome took a dramatic turn on December 20, 2023, following months of direct and confidential negotiations in Qatar between representatives of U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration and delegates from Caracas. After receiving a presidential pardon from Biden, Alex Saab was released as part of a high-profile prisoner exchange.
In exchange for Saab’s release, Venezuelan authorities freed a group of 10 U.S. citizens detained in the country, as well as nearly twenty Venezuelan political prisoners, within the framework of the political agreements previously signed in Barbados. That same day, Saab landed in Caracas, where he was received with official honors.
Shortly after his return, in January 2024, he was appointed by the executive branch as president of the International Center for Productive Investment, a strategic body tasked with attracting foreign capital. Later, in October of that year, Nicolás Maduro appointed him Minister of Industries. A few weeks after the military operation that resulted in Maduro’s detention in January of this year, Delcy Rodríguez removed him from office.
