Venezuela Deports Alex Saab to US for Criminal Proceedings

Venezuela deported Alex Saab, a Colombian-born businessman and longtime ally of Nicolás Maduro, to the United States on Saturday to face criminal proceedings there, according to Venezuela’s migration authority. The decision, announced by the government in a short statement, came less than three years after President Joe Biden granted Saab a pardon as part of a prisoner swap.

Venezuela’s statement did not specify where Saab was sent, but said the deportation was based on several ongoing criminal investigations in the United States. Because Venezuelan law prohibits the extradition of its nationals, the authority referred to Saab only as a Colombian citizen.

Saab, 54, had been arrested in Caracas in February during an operation that involved U.S. and Venezuelan authorities, according to a U.S. law enforcement official. His arrest followed not long after Maduro’s own capture by U.S. special forces in January, also in Caracas. The deportation suggested that cooperation between U.S. and Venezuelan law enforcement had expanded under acting President Delcy Rodríguez.

The businessman previously spent time outside Venezuela after his 2020 detention in Cape Verde. He was later held in the...