Maduro relative extradited to US, Caracas suspends talks with opposition
Jorge Rodriguez, the speaker of Parliament and head of the Caracas delegation in negotiations with the opposition, at a press conference in the Venezuelan capital on October 16, 2021, after the announcement of the man's extradition business Alexander Saab.
© Frederico Parra, AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The Venezuelan power will not participate in the fourth round of dialogue with the opposition, which was to be held in Colombia.
In question, the extradition of Alex Saab this Saturday, October 16 from Cape Verde to the United States.
This Colombian businessman close to Nicolas Maduro is accused in particular of money laundering by Washington.
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President of the Venezuelan Parliament Jorge Rodriguez speaks of “
brutal aggression
”.
Alex Saab's lawyer in Cape Verde denounces;
him, an “
illegal extradition
”, because “
the procedure was not yet final
”.
The Colombian businessman was arrested in Cape Verde last June during a layover. But despite Caracas' best efforts, this close friend of President Nicolas Maduro was indeed put on a flight to the United States. He is supposed to have "
his first judicial hearing Monday, October 18
" in a Florida court, the US Department of Justice said in a statement, confirming this extradition.
Washington indicted him in 2019 for money laundering, and accuses him of being the head of a vast network that allowed the Venezuelan president and his government to divert humanitarian aid intended for residents.
The country has been grappling with a political but also an economic crisis for years
.
Some 350 million dollars would have gone from Venezuela to accounts abroad, especially in the United States.
Alex Saab faces 20 years in prison.
Power suspends negotiations with the opposition
In response, Caracas suspended its participation in negotiations with the opposition led by Juan Guaido, which were to resume on Monday, October 18.
"
We will not attend the [fourth] round which was to begin on October 17 in Mexico City, in protest at the brutal aggression [...] against Alex Saab
", announced the President of the Parliament Jorge Rodriguez, head of the delegation of the to be able to.
Alex Saab, who also has Venezuelan nationality and a diplomatic passport, had been appointed as a member of the delegation of power
for the previous negotiating session in September
.
Power and opposition
began negotiations in August
.
Caracas wants sanctions imposed by countries that do not recognize Maduro's election to be removed.
The opposition,
after having broken with its strategy of boycotting the 2018 presidential election and the 2020 legislative elections
, now wants free and transparent elections in view of the regional election on November 21, but especially the presidential election of 2024.
Six former Citgo executives put in jail
After the news of Alex Saab's extradition, six former executives of Citgo, a US subsidiary of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, who were under house arrest in Venezuela, were put in jail.
If there was no official link, this change also looks like a retaliatory measure, underlines
Christophe Paget
, of the International service of RFI.
These former Citgo executives were sentenced to 8 to 13 years in prison for corruption in November 2020, before being placed under house arrest in April.
What had been seen as a gesture of goodwill by President Maduro towards Washington
►
To read and listen also:
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