The US announced the release of ally Nicolas Maduro

The US has announced the release of Alex Saab, an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the agency reported on Wednesday. Reuters. Alex Saab was accused of transferring approximately 320 million euros from Venezuela through the United States through a bribery scheme.

In exchange, Venezuela promised to release 36 people, including 12 US citizens. According to a source in the government of Nicolas Maduro, all prisoners will be released on the same day. The White House declined to comment.

On Friday and again on Monday, two documents were filed and sealed in a long-pending criminal case in federal court in Miami, Florida, indicating a backroom deal was underway.

The United States has long accused Saab of being Maduro’s “delivery man,” so his release would be seen as a major concession to the authoritarian leader, who is himself the target of a $15 million (€13.6 million) reward for anyone who delivers him to New York. York is charged with drug trafficking.

The deal could also anger the Venezuelan opposition, which has recently criticized the White House for failing to act while the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) country’s leader repeatedly bypasses the US government following the maxims of President Donald Trump’s 2017 pressure campaign. ). -2021) failed to overthrow him.

In October, the White House eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry, promising to reinstate them if Maduro fails to make good on his promise to hold free and transparent elections next year by November 30.

That deadline has expired, and Maduro has still not repealed the measure that prevents his main opponent, Maria Corina Machado, from running for the presidency of the republic.

Among the Americans behind bars in Venezuela are two former US Army Special Forces soldiers, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, who were involved in the 2019 attempt to overthrow Maduro.

Also detained were Eivin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore and Joseph Cristella, accused of illegally entering the country from Colombia. Most recently, Venezuela arrested Savoy Wright, a 38-year-old businessman from California.

Saab, 51, was pulled from the private jet during a refueling stop in Cape Verde en route to Iran, where he had been sent to negotiate oil deals on behalf of Maduro’s government.

He was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with a bribery scheme that allegedly funneled $350 million (€318 million) through government contracts to build affordable housing for the Venezuelan government.

According to Maduro’s spokesman, Saab was going to Iran to buy food and medicine when he was detained in Cape Verde.

He was previously sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for allegedly running a scheme that included Maduro’s inner circle and stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in food import contracts during a widespread famine in the Latin American country, largely due to food shortages. .

Ten years after the crisis began, grocery stores and supermarkets are now crowded, but few Venezuelans have enough money to buy food: the monthly minimum wage is about $3.60 (€3.28), just enough to buy a bottle of 3.7 liters. water.

The Trump administration has presented Saab as a trophy, spending millions of dollars to pursue the Colombian-born businessman. At one point, he even sent a US Navy warship to the West African coast as a warning to the Venezuelans.

The Maduro chief argued that Saab is a Venezuelan diplomat entitled to immunity from prosecution under international law.

But last year, at a closed hearing before his arrest, his lawyers said Saab was secretly in contact with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to help authorities uncover corruption in the Venezuelan president’s inner circle and was willing to give up millions of dollars. dollars of illegal proceeds from corrupt government contracts.