MIAMI (AP) 鈥� Venezuela鈥檚 government said it would halt negotiations with opponents in retaliation for the extradition the U.S. of a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro wanted on criminal charges.
Jorge Rodr铆guez, who has been heading the government鈥檚 delegation in negotiations that started in August, said his team wouldn鈥檛 travel to Mexico City for the next scheduled round of talks, although he stopped short of saying the government was abandoning the talks altogether.
The announcement Saturday came hours after businessman Alex Saab was put on a U.S.-bound plane in Cape Verde after failing in a 16-month fight to prevent his extradition to the U.S. to face money laundering charges in Miami. Saab was arrested in the African archipelago while making a stop on the way to Iran for what Maduro鈥檚 government later described as a diplomatic humanitarian mission.
Rodriguez, standing in front of a giant sign reading 鈥淔ree Alex Saab,鈥� called his arrest an illegal 鈥渁ggression鈥� by the U.S., which has been pushing for years for Maduro鈥檚 removal
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THE IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. The previous version of the story is below:
A top fugitive close to Venezuela's socialist government has been put on a flight from Cape Verde to the United States to face money laundering charges, a senior U.S. official confirmed Saturday.
President Nicol谩s Maduro has blasted the U.S. for 鈥渒idnapping鈥� Colombian businessman Alex Saab, and hours later Venezuelan security forces picked up six American oil executives who have been under home arrest in another politically charged case.
It鈥檚 unclear if the men 鈥� all of whom were convicted and sentenced last year to lengthy prison terms in a corruption case that the U.S. says was marred by irregularities 鈥� were 小蓝视频 returned to jail. A lawyer for the men said he doesn鈥檛 know where they were 小蓝视频 taken.
The so-called Citgo 6, for the Houston subsidiary of Venezuela鈥檚 state owned oil company, were lured to Caracas in 2017 for a meeting when masked police busted into a conference room and took them into custody on embezzlement charges tied to a never-executed deal to refinance billions in Citgo bonds.
The apparent retaliatory move came after Saab was put on a chartered U.S. Justice Department flight from Cape Verde, a West African archipelago, where he was arrested 16 months ago while making a stop on the way to Iran for what Maduro's government later described as a diplomatic humanitarian mission.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition he not be named, confirmed the flight's departure. A public relations firm representing Saab said in an email that the Colombian businessman was taken from his home without his lawyers 小蓝视频 notified.
Saab's arrival in the U.S. is bound to complicate relations between Washington and Caracas, possibly disrupting fledgling talks between Maduro's government and its U.S.-backed opposition taking place in Mexico.
Maduro鈥檚 government has vehemently objected to Saab鈥檚 prosecution as a veiled attempt at regime change by Washington. U.S. prosecutors say Saab wheeling and dealing on behalf of the socialist government, which faces heavy U.S. sanctions.
American authorities have been targeting Saab for years, believing he holds numerous secrets about how Maduro, the president's family and his top aides siphoned off millions of dollars in government contracts for food and housing amid widespread hunger in oil-rich Venezuela.
However his defenders, including Maduro's government as well as allies Russia and Cuba, consider his arrest illegal and maintain that Saab was a diplomatic envoy of the Venezuelan government and as such possesses immunity from prosecution while on official business.
In a statement Saturday, Venezuela鈥檚 government again denounced the 鈥渒idnapping鈥� of Saab by the U.S. government 鈥渋n complicity with authorities in Cape Verde."
鈥淭he government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela repudiates this grave violation of human rights against a Venezuelan citizen, invested as a diplomat and representative of our country before the world,鈥� the statement said.
The argument failed to persuade Cape Verde's Constitutional Court, which last month authorized his extradition after a year of wrangling by Saab's legal team, which includes former Spanish judge Baltasar Garz贸n and BakerHostetler, one of the U.S.' biggest firms.
Federal prosecutors in Miami on money-laundering charges connected to an alleged bribery scheme that pocketed more than $350 million from a low-income housing project for the Venezuelan government.
Separately, Saab had been sanctioned by the previous Trump administration for allegedly utilizing a network of shell companies spanning the globe 鈥� in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Hong Kong, Panama, Colombia and Mexico 鈥� to hide huge profits from no-bid, overvalued food contracts obtained through bribes and kickbacks.
Some of Saab鈥檚 contracts were obtained by paying bribes to the adult children of Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores, the Trump administration alleged. Commonly known in Venezuela as 鈥淟os Chamos,鈥� slang for 鈥渢he kids,鈥� the three men are also under investigation by prosecutors in Miami for allegedly forming part of a scheme to siphon $1.2 billion from Venezuela鈥檚 state-owned oil company, two people familiar with the U.S. investigation told The Associated Press.
But while in private U.S. officials have long described Saab as a front man for Maduro, he is not identified as such in court filings.
The previous Trump administration had made Saab鈥檚 extradition a top priority, at one point even sending a Navy warship to the African archipelago to keep an eye on the captive.
On Saturday. Colombian President Iv谩n Duque lauded the extradition of Saab in a tweet, calling it a 鈥渢riumph in the fight against drug trafficking, money laundering and corruption led by the dictatorship of Nicol谩s Maduro.鈥�
In response, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodir铆guez tweeted that 鈥淎lex Saab is an innocent Venezuelan diplomat, a victim of kidnapping and human rights violations who has served our country face with an immoral imperial blockade.鈥�
However, the Biden administration has downplayed the importance of Saab's problems, saying he can defend himself in U.S. courts and that his case shouldn't affect ongoing negotiations sponsored by Norway aimed at overcoming Venezuela's long running economic crisis and political tug of war.
The government last month appointed Saab to its negotiating team and fellow envoys arrived to Mexico carrying signs reading 鈥淔ree Alex Saab.鈥�
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Joshua Goodman, The Associated Press
