Maduro appoints Alex Saab, released by the US in December, Minister of Industry

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, appointed this Friday as Minister of Industry Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman identified as a figurehead of the leftist president and released by the United States last December after a prisoner exchange.
«I appointed Alex Saab as the new Minister of Popular Power for Industry and National Production, I am sure that with his great management capacity and commitment to our people, he will promote the development of the entire industrial system of Venezuela within the framework of the construction process of the new economic model,” Maduro indicated on his social networks.
Saab, 52, replaces the military man Pedro Tellechea, in office since last August, when he was removed as Minister of Petroleum and president of the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) after managing to bring crude oil production to almost 1 million barrels. diaries.
Tellechea, for his part, indicated that his departure from the Ministry of Industry is due to “health problems” that require “immediate attention.”
Arrested in 2020 in Cape Verde and extradited to the United States in October 2021, Saab was released as part of an agreement mediated by Qatar, which included the release of 10 Americans imprisoned in Venezuela, in addition to another 20 “political prisoners.” Venezuelans.
Saab’s arrest was described as a “kidnapping” by the Venezuelan government, which claimed that he was a special envoy from Caracas and that his diplomatic immunity was violated.
The American justice system accused Saab of laundering funds obtained illegally in Venezuela through the United States.
He was in charge of importing food from the government program known as CLAP, marred by alleged acts of corruption.