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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent, Julian Borger in Washington and Sam Levin in Los Angeles

US-Venezuela prisoner swap includes notorious key ally of Nicolás Maduro

Nicolás Maduro Alex Saab United States Venezuela Joe Biden Prison Juan Guaidó Marshall Billingslea Eyvin Hernandez María Corina Machado
A poster in Caracas, Venezuela, demands the release of Alex Saab from US custody in 2021.
A poster in Caracas, Venezuela, demands the release of Alex Saab from US custody in 2021. Photograph: Ariana Cubillos/AP

Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, has managed to free a key collaborator from US custody after agreeing to release 10 Americans and 20 Venezuelan citizens from jail.

The Colombian-born businessman Alex Saab – a close Maduro ally whom US prosecutors accused of pilfering hundreds of millions of dollars from Venezuelan social programs as part of a vast money-laundering scheme – was extradited to the US in 2021 after being detained while transiting through Cape Verde.

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