Venezuela's opposition regards Mr Saab as the president's chief dealmaker and frontman — the man suspected of helping the regime import petrol from Iran in defiance of US sanctions, buying state-subsidised food in Mexico and exporting illegally-mined Venezuelan gold to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, channelling money through a web of companies in Panama, Hong Kong and elsewhere."
"He's the go-to guy," said Vanessa Neumann, envoy to the UK of Venezuela's US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó. "He knows who to call in Iran, who to call in Turkey, how to set up a business in Panama. Not many people have that skillset, or that Rolodex, or that loyalty."
President Nicolás Maduro's fixer at centre of tug of war between Washington and Caracas
He was flying by private jet from Venezuela on a mission for the government of President Nicolás Maduro, but businessman and fixer Alex Saab never got further than the Cape Verde Islands off the west coast of Africa.
When his plane stopped to refuel, local police arrested him on a warrant from the US, where he is wanted on suspicion of money laundering and is under sanctions for his links to Mr Maduro. Mr Saab, the authoritarian leader's main dealmaker, is now at the centre of a tug of war between Washington and Caracas.
Washington wants him to face justice in the US and is preparing an extradition request for the Cape Verdean authorities, according to people briefed on the matter. The Department of Justice has declined to comment. Mr Maduro's government says the Colombian-born Mr Saab has diplomatic immunity and was on a humanitarian mission to secure food for the poor and medical equipment to combat coronavirus.
Read the whole story on the Financial Times here: https://www.ft.com/content/c8584806-a6a4-4339-9f0c-033385e244c7?desktop=true&segmentId=7c8f09b9-9b61-4fbb-9430-9208a9e233c8#myft:notification:daily-email:content
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