The Government of Venezuela announced this Saturday the deportation of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, marking a new and decisive chapter in the long judicial file against the Barranquilla native accused of being one of the main financial operators of Nicolás Maduro’s regime. Once protected by the regime, Saab fell out of favor after the capture of the Venezuelan leader on January 3, and was detained under strange circumstances and total opacity last February.
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After hours of rumors, the Venezuelan Administrative Service of Identification, Migration and Foreigners (SAIME) issued an official statement informing that the measure was adopted “in compliance with the regulatory provisions of Venezuelan migration legislation,” citing as motivation that Saab “is involved in the commission of various crimes in the United States of America, as is public, notorious and communicational.”
Saab’s handover to the United States was already planned, but was finalized this Saturday after “the appropriate circumstances” for his deportation arose, according to official sources. The Colombian businessman faced, according to these sources, accusations for several crimes, not only in the United States but also in Colombia and Venezuela. He is also accused of being behind a defamatory campaign against the Chavista leadership, who have been accused of betraying Nicolás Maduro.
Saab built a close personal relationship with Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, becoming one of the most recognizable symbols of that era. He extended a hand to the regime when it was besieged by international sanctions, accumulated debts, and an unprecedented economic crisis: he triangulated goods, obtained questionable quality food for Chavismo’s social programs, and operated in the shadows of a system increasingly dependent on his improvisations. For years he was identified as Maduro’s main personal frontman, amassing a fortune estimated at over one billion dollars while Venezuela sank into scarcity.
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Saab’s judicial trajectory is one of the most turbulent in the Chavismo environment. In 2019, the United States sanctioned him for allegedly paying bribes to obtain contracts with the Venezuelan government without bidding. In 2020 he was detained in Cape Verde at the request of U.S. authorities and in October 2021 he was extradited to that country. He was traveling with a Venezuelan diplomatic passport.
Maduro responded with an unprecedented campaign demanding his release, declared him an official diplomat, and filled the streets of Venezuela with his name.
After a long legal battle, he was released in December 2023 as part of a prisoner exchange agreement with Venezuela, returned to the country, and was incorporated into the government in a key economic role, which generated criticism from both opposition sectors and international analysts. Saab served as Minister of Industry and National Production of Venezuela between October 2024 and January 2026. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez dismissed him from the position on January 16, 2026, after merging that portfolio with the Ministry of National Commerce.
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