U.S.–Venezuela Policy and Sanctions

A U.S. law‑enforcement official told Reuters that Alex Saab — a Colombian‑born businessman, longtime financial fixer for captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and until recently Venezuela’s industry minister — was arrested Wednesday in Venezuela in a joint U.S.–Venezuelan operation and is expected to be extradited to the United States in the coming days. Saab’s lawyer, Luigi Giuliano, and pro‑government journalists are publicly denying the arrest as "fake news," and Venezuela’s top lawmaker Jorge Rodríguez said he has no information confirming it, leaving the claim uncorroborated on the Venezuelan side. If true, the move would mark an extraordinary level of cooperation between U.S. authorities and the interim government of Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former deputy now installed with Washington’s backing and control over Venezuelan law enforcement. The same U.S. official also said Raul Gorrin, sanctioned owner of the Globovisión TV network and another key regime insider, was arrested in the operation. Saab was first detained in Cape Verde in 2020, extradited to the U.S. on bribery and money‑laundering charges tied to roughly $350 million allegedly moved through the American financial system, then given clemency in a prisoner swap for U.S. detainees in Venezuela — a deal now potentially being reversed in practice by his reported rearrest.