Venezuela halts talks with opposition after Maduro ally extradited

The Venezuelan government announced Saturday that it would suspend negotiations with the country’s opposition that were due to resume this weekend.

The announcement came just hours after Colombian businessman Alex Saab, who has close ties to Venezuela’s government, was put on an extradition flight from Cape Verde to the United States.

Jorge Rodriguez, who heads the government’s negotiating team, said his team wouldn’t travel to Mexico City for the next scheduled round of talks “as a deep expression of our protest against the brutal aggression” against Saab.

Saab had been appointed as part of the government’s negotiating team in the dialogue with the US-backed opposition before his arrest last year.

The Norway-brokered talks aimed to find ways out of Venezuela’s economic crisis and political tug of war.

Why was Alex Saab extradited? 

Saab, who also has a Venezuelan diplomatic passport, was arrested in Cape Verde 16 months ago on his way to Iran.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government said Saab was on a diplomatic humanitarian mission and should have enjoyed immunity from prosecution.

US prosecutors, however, believe that Saab is likely to know details about how Maduro, his family and top aides have garnered millions of dollars in government contracts for food and housing while much of Venezuela’s population has been living in poverty.

Saab himself is thought by US authorities to have earned millions by conducting crooked deals on behalf of Maduro’s socialist government. Among other things, he and his business partner Alvaro Pulido are charged with operating a network that exploited food aid destined for Venezuela.

Venezuela slams ‘grave violation of human rights’

In a statement on Saturday, the government in Caracas once more condemned Saab’s “kidnapping” by the US government, calling it a “grave violation of human rights against a Venezuelan citizen, invested as a diplomat and representative of our country before the world.”

Cape Verde’s Constitutional Court authorized the extradition last month after a drawn-out court battle with Saab’s legal team, who call the US charges “politically motivated.”

 tj/fb (AFP, AP, Reuters, EFE)

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/venezuela-halts-talks-with-opposition-after-maduro-ally-extradited/a-59529330?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf