(ANSA) - CARACAS, OCTOBER 17 - The government delegation of Venezuela engaged since mid-August in dialogue with the opposition in Mexico has announced that it will not participate at the beginning of the fourth round of negotiations that was to begin today in Mexico City in protest after the extradition of Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman considered very close to NicolasMaduro.
Saab was extradited overnight to the United States from Cape Verde, where he was arrested in 2020 along with his business partner Alvaro Pulido, when his plane landed there for refueling. The United States accuses him of various crimes, including corruption and money laundering, but above all of having seized, also on behalf of Maduro, millions of dollars destined for food aid for the Venezuelan population.
The Venezuelan government has called extradition "illegal", a "kidnapping carried out by the United States government looming with the Cape Verde authorities".
Opponents, on the other hand, applauded the initiative.
Hence the government's decision not to participate, in protest, in the talks in Mexico City.
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