Close to the inner circle of the dictator Nicolás Maduro, this financial shark was long seen as the man capable of circumventing American sanctions and keeping the regime afloat.
Captured and overthrown, Nicolás Maduro brings down several of his lieutenants with him. The Venezuelan government announced on Saturday, May 16, the deportation of Alex Saab, a close ally of the former Venezuelan president, to the United States, where he faces several criminal investigations. This marks a dramatic turn for this financial shark, the architect of Venezuela’s ties with Russia and Iran, whom Nicolás Maduro tried to protect until the end.
“The friends of Alex Saab have no explanation for how such an ordinary man, with modest aspirations and devoid of any passion except the love for his children, became the financial shark of the Bolivarian revolution,” explains journalist Gerardo Reyes in El País, the author of a book about him. Saab’s career, as the son of a Lebanese entrepreneur, began in Colombia before he ventured into Venezuela.
According to the series “Alex Saab, Anti-blockade Agent,” the official version of his life, he obtained his first contract in the country in 2011 for the construction of prefabricated housing at the Miraflores Palace, the presidential residence. In Caracas, he quickly caught the eye of the powerful: Piedad Córdoba, a former Colombian senator close to then-Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, opened the doors of power for him. The lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, now an extreme right-wing candidate for the Venezuelan presidency, also played a role in his rise.
Saab’s involvement in the program of local supply and production committees (CLAP), a mechanism that centralized the distribution of food bags, is questioned due to corruption allegations. While he signed a $200 million contract with Nicolás Maduro, the food, of poor quality, was resold 112% more expensive than the original price.
His arrest in 2020 marked a turning point as his once influential position in the Venezuelan government began to crumble. Saab, described by the U.S. Treasury as a “profiteer orchestrating a vast network of corruption,” faced charges of money laundering, illicit enrichment, and fraud.
Extradited and granted a presidential pardon in 2023, Saab returned to Venezuela as part of a prisoner exchange. However, as the Maduro regime fell, his fate grew uncertain. Excluded from the government by Delcy Rodríguez, Saab faced the possibility of extradition to the U.S., where he could potentially become a valuable witness against Nicolas Maduro.
