US-Venezuela prisoner swap includes notorious key ally of Nicolás Maduro

Ten Americans were released in the deal, but critics say the US release of Alex Saab shows that corrupt Venezuelan officials enjoy impunity

Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, has managed to free a key collaborator from US custody after agreeing to release 10 Americans and 20 Venezuelan citizens from jail.

The Colombian-born businessman Alex Saab – a close Maduro ally whom US prosecutors accused of pilfering hundreds of millions of dollars from Venezuelan social programs as part of a massive money-laundering scheme – was extradited to the US in 2021 after being detained while transiting through Cape Verde.