Khaberni - Acting President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, announced on Friday the dismissal of the Minister of Industry, Alex Saab, who is close to the detained President Nicolas Maduro.
Alex Saab (54 years old) was one of the main intermediaries for Chavismo around the world. He was arrested in 2021 and detained in the United States on charges of creating a system to divert food aid for the benefit of Maduro and his government.
He was exchanged in December 2023 for 10 Americans who were imprisoned in Venezuela, in an operation described by Maduro as a "victory".
The Colombian businessman significantly strengthened the oil relations between Venezuela and Iran in the face of U.S. sanctions, and was appointed by Maduro as Minister of Industry in December 2024.
Saab is leaving the government less than two weeks after U.S. special forces arrested Maduro in Caracas on January 3 and transferred him to the United States.
Rodriquez said via Telegram, "I thank my colleague Alex Saab for his work in service of the nation, and he will now take on new responsibilities," explaining that his ministerial portfolio will be abolished and merged with the Ministry of Trade.
The Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Ratcliffe met Rodriguez on Thursday in Caracas, as reported by a U.S. administration official to AFP on Friday, explaining that he "conveyed a message that the United States looks forward to improving the working relationship" between the two countries.
The visit came the day after the first contact between Trump and Rodriguez, and on the same day that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado presented Trump with the Nobel Peace Prize she had won in the White House.
