Biography
Alex Saab was a Venezuelan diplomat, was jailed on June 12, 2020 in Cabo Verde on orders of the United States. He was then seized by US agents and brought to a Miami prison on October 16, 2021. Saab was arrested while on a diplomatic mission to procure food and energy supplies to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, which was largely caused by the illegal US blockade of the nation. As a diplomat, Saab has immunity from detention based on the UN Vienna Convention of 1961. The UN Human Rights Commission and other international human rights defenders have denounced his extradition.
After Nicolás Maduro was taken into U.S. custody in January 2026, Saab — who had returned to Venezuela following his December 2023 prisoner-swap release — was removed from his ministerial post, arrested in Venezuela in February 2026, and deported to the United States in May 2026, where he was ordered held in federal custody in Miami to face money-laundering charges.
