The Chavista delegation appeared on a negotiating table in Mexico with posters demanding the release of Alex Saab, who was jailed on money laundering charges.

New round of talks between Maduro regime and Venezuelan opposition increasingly complex: tomorrow The scheduled session was postponed after representatives of Chavismo did not arrive in Mexico City. And today, 24 hours later than expected, they arrived at the venue, but with provocative posters of Alex Saab, a millionaire accused of money laundering in front of Maduro whose extradition to the United States has already been approved by the Cabo Justice Is. The delegation arrived a day later than expected and was photographed with posters of the Colombian businessman, whose extradition to the US has already been approved by Cape Verde, where he has been arrested.

It is that in recent weeks, the Venezuelan regime launched its latest maneuver to try to prevent extradition. He assured that Saab was a diplomat of his government and asked to join the negotiating table in Mexico.

The businessman’s name surfaced in the media after former Venezuelan prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz accused him of being one of the front-runners of the Venezuelan dictator in 2017.

Of Lebanese descent and born in the city of Barranquilla, Colombia, Saab is related to several companies, but its main link with Maduro will be through Groupe Grand Limited (GGL), which is said to provide the regime at discounted prices. sell food. Neighborhood polite. However, both Saab and Maduro have been accused on separate occasions of using the program, known as CLAP, to illegally seize hundreds of millions of dollars.

In fact, Saab, along with Maduro’s three stepchildren and nine others, were sanctioned by the United States in July 2019 for that exact maneuver. For this reason, everyone has All properties or immovable assets held by them in the United States have been frozen.

“Alex Saab pledges to lead a massive corruption network with Maduro informers that brutally exploits Venezuela’s starving population. The Treasury targets those with Maduro’s sophisticated corruption schemes— with targeting a global network of fictitious companies that benefit from the military-controlled food delivery program of the previous regime,” explained at the time the Secretary of the Government of the US Treasury, Steven Mnuchin.

“The corruption network that operates the Clap program has allowed Maduro and his relatives to steal from Venezuelans. They use food as a form of social control to reward political supporters and punish opponents, Whereas through a series of fraud schemes millions of dollars loose their pockets,” he said.

Journalist Gerardo Reyes, author of the book Alex Saab. Truth”, revealed that the enigmatic Barranquilla businessman benefited from a network of ghost companies dedicated to fraudulent imports, while handling various commercial matters of the Bolivarian regime, Manage to acquire at least one billion dollars worth of assets. “He solved the most urgent problems of the Venezuelan government day in and day out. When the problem of food had to be solved due to lack of milk, they called him; when there was no fuel, he would abandon the shipment of fuel tanks from Iran. Will give and negotiate,” he assured Infobe a few days back.

As such, it established close commercial and diplomatic relations with countries such as Turkey, Iran and Russia, with the primary objective of Help the Venezuelan dictator bypass international sanctions.

There were dozens of shell companies that he developed in various countries in Latin America, Europe, and even the United States. But Saab’s main link with Maduro is through Groupe Grand Limited (GGL), which is said to sell food at subsidized prices to distribute to poorer areas. However, both have been accused on separate occasions of using the program, known as CLAP, to illegally obtain hundreds of millions of dollars. He has even been condemned for delivering spoiled food.

The third round of talks, which is being held in Mexico with Norwegian mediation, should have started on Friday, but Maduro’s representatives protested by not attending the meeting.

Although the government did not justify his absence, Venezuela’s executive vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, attacked US ambassador to the country James Storey on Friday, accusing him of ordering the opposition “what to do”. Dialogue table”.

A message that was endorsed by Jorge Rodriguez, the speaker of the Venezuelan parliament and leader of the government’s negotiating team, who wrote that the Venezuelan executive “will never engage in the agenda that this character tries to impose,” the ambassador’s In context.

It was the representative of the opposition delegation, Gerardo Belide, who told through a statement on Friday night that Chavista had not attended the meeting. Despite this absence, Blyde reaffirmed the opposition’s “commitment” to “continue the negotiations” on the agreed agenda.” was planned.

After the failure of five attempts at dialogue over the past seven years, the international community is betting that this time open the way for a negotiated and electoral solution to the complex economic and social crisis facing Venezuela, which has freed migration. of six million people in recent years.

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