The keys
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“I am sure that with his great management capacity and commitment to our people, he will promote the development of the entire industrial system of Venezuela within the framework of the construction process of the new economic model. All the support for the immense task that he has to accomplish,” Maduro wrote on his social networks when he appointed him to the position.
The career of Saab comes from afar. So much so that he started his business path in Barranquilla, a Colombian city, selling keychains. Then, he started making work uniforms. Later, he began negotiating with Venezuela, focused on contract issues for social programs linked to the import of food and construction materials.
I have decided to merge the ministries of Popular Power of Industries and National Production and that of National Commerce, important portfolios for the economic advancement of the country. This new instance will be assumed by Minister Luis Antonio Villegas. pic.twitter.com/gYqQTzPheN
— Delcy Rodríguez (@delcyrodriguezv) January 17, 2026
In 2020, he was arrested in Cape Verde. The United States accused him of belonging to a money laundering network. Subsequently, he was transferred, through an extradition order, to the North American country. Also, he was identified as the front man of Maduro.
For this reason, he was interned in a United States prison since October 2021. He remained in the penitentiary center until December 2023, after a presidential pardon signed by the then White House guest, Joe Biden.
During his imprisonment in prison, his wife, the Italian Camilla Fabribecame the image of the campaign that was launched for his release and that was undertaken by Maduro’s Chavista Executive. Today, Fabri heads the Mission Vuelta a la Patria, the state program that manages the repatriations of Venezuelan migrants. In March 2024, the US Justice Department dismissed the charges against Saab.
Maduro’s Minister
He was appointed in October 2024 by Nicolás Maduro to manage the Ministry of Industries and National Production. Prior to this appointment, he was the president of the International Center for Productive Investment of Venezuela, according to Efe.
Former Venezuelan prosecutor Luisa Ortega formally accused him of being one of the front men of the former Chavista leader. In recent years he has been linked to several companies, including Group Grand Limited (GGL), accused of supplying the Maduro Administration with overpriced food and supplies for the government’s Local Supply and Production Committees.
Everything blew up when the journalistic investigation portal Armando.info He pointed out that Saab belonged to a money laundering network, thus obtaining millionaire income from the “fictitious” export of food in Venezuela.
Link with Garzón
Saab hired the legal services of former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón once the Colombian businessman was arrested in June 2020 in Cape Verde at the request of USA. The judge’s objective was to prevent extradition to the United States.
According to Latin American media, Garzón’s defense strategy was based on alleging that Saab had “diplomatic immunity” as a “special envoy” of the Maduro government. In that case, the detention would have been “illegal.”
Continuing along this line, The Voice of America reported that another of the strategies of Waiter was the presentation of appeals and legal demands before higher authorities, such as the International Criminal Court (The Hague, Netherlands) for “violation of rights.”
Finally, the Cape Verdean justice system authorized the extradition of the Colombian businessman to USAwhere he served a sentence for the commission of a money laundering crime. In 2023, he was released after a prisoner exchange.
Delcy relief
The president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguezannounced this Friday a significant restructuring of the cabinet after merging two key portfolios of the Executive: the Ministry of Industries and National Production and the Ministry of National Commerce.
The decision implies the creation of a “new instance” that will be directed by Luis Antonio Villegaswhich has led to the departure of the Colombian businessman Saab from the cabinet.
The merger of both ministries, explained by Rodríguez As a measure aimed at “optimizing” economic management in the face of the country’s production and trade challenges, it was announced by the president through her official Telegram account.
In that message, the interim president thanked Saab “for his work in the service of the Patria” and assured that “he will assume new responsibilities”, without detailing what those future functions will be.
Villegas, who already served as minister of National Trade from February 2024, he will now assume responsibility for the joint portfolio.
The figure of Saabon the contrary, disappears from the cabinet at a time of important ministerial adjustments driven by Rodríguez in just his first days at the head of the Venezuelan Executive, after the capture of Maduro by US forces during a military intervention in Caracas on January 3.