Venezuelan pro-power activists on Monday proposed
the “exchange
” of American citizens detained in Venezuela for Alex Saab, a close associate of President Nicolás Maduro and power broker abroad, accused of money laundering by the United States. United where he has been in prison since October 2021. "
This (the exchange) seems to us a good option
", said King Lopez, spokesperson for the "
Free Alex Saab
" movement, during a press conference.
Colombian nationalized Venezuelan, Alex Saab had been extradited from Cape Verde to the United States after the stopover of his plane in the African archipelago in June 2020. Caracas describes this arrest as illegal, Mr. Saab having according to the Venezuelan authorities a diplomatic passport.
“
Here in Venezuela there are a number of American detainees serving time, some for attempting to assassinate the president, others for economic crimes committed against the nation, etc. (…) If a exchange can be done, excellent, because we will bring back our diplomat
,” Mr. Lopez said.
Two Americans detained in Venezuela were released in March, just after a visit to Caracas by a high-level delegation from the White House: Gustavo Cardenas, a former executive of the Citgo group, a subsidiary of the public oil company PDVSA, convicted of corruption, and the Cuban-American Jorge Alberto Fernandez, arrested in early 2021 at the border with Colombia and accused of “
terrorism
”.
Washington demands the release of Matthew Heath, a former soldier arrested in September 2020, described as a “
spy
” and accused of wanting to attack oil and electricity installations.
Venezuela and the United States severed their relations at the beginning of 2019, Washington not recognizing the re-election of Nicolás Maduro which it considers "
fraudulent
".
Members of "
Free Alex Saab
" called on relatives of Americans imprisoned in Venezuela to "
put pressure
" on Washington.
"
All options are on the table
," said Pedro Carvajalino, another spokesperson.
The United States "
is doing more to free a basketball player in Russia than more than 10 American citizens in Venezuela
", he added, citing the case of star Brittney Griner, sentenced in Russia to nine years in prison for drug trafficking.
Venezuelan power and opposition had resumed negotiations in Mexico in August 2021, after failed initiatives in 2018 in the Dominican Republic and in 2019 in Barbados.
But these were frozen by Caracas two months later, in retaliation for the extradition of Alex Saab.