Venezuela’s government said on Saturday (May 16, 2026) it deported a close ally of Nicolas Maduro facing several criminal investigations in the U.S., less than three years after the businessman was pardoned by President Joe Biden as part of a prisoner swap.

The decision marks a stark reversal for Alex Saab, who Mr. Maduro fought tooth and nail to bring home after his previous international arrest in 2020. Now, the Colombian-born insider, long described by U.S. officials as Mr. Maduro’s “bag man,” may be asked to testify against his former protector, who is awaiting trial on drug charges in Manhattan after being captured in a shock raid by the U.S. military in January.

The Venezuelan immigration authority, in a short statement on Saturday (May 16), did not explicitly say where it had sent Saab but said the decision was made based on several ongoing criminal investigations in the U.S. The statement’s reference to Saab only as a “Colombian citizen” appeared to be a nod to Venezuelan law, which prohibits the extradition of its nationals.

Following his last arrest, Mr. Maduro and acting President Delcy Rodriguez presented a copy of what they said was Mr. Saab’s Venezuelan passport, claiming he was a high-level diplomat who had been illegally detained during a refuelling stop en route to Iran.

A fortune built from government contracts

Mr. Saab, 54, amassed a fortune through Venezuelan government contracts. But he fell out of favour with the country’s new leadership that took power following Mr. Maduro’s ouster. Since taking over from Mr. Maduro on Jan 3, Ms. Rodriguez demoted Mr. Saab, firing him from her Cabinet and stripping him of his role as the main conduit for foreign companies looking to invest in Venezuela. For months, conflicting news accounts have circulated that he was imprisoned or under house arrest.

His removal to the United States is likely to deepen divisions inside Ms. Rodriguez’s fragile ruling coalition of Chavistas, named for the movement started by the late Hugo Chavez.

Ms. Rodriguez has generated enormous goodwill in Washington and successfully stalled any talk of new elections as she bends to the Trump administration’s demands to open up its oil and mining industries to American investment.

But those concessions to what Chavistas have long decried as the U.S. “Empire” have angered many of her more radical, ideologically driven allies, some of whom, like Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, wield great influence inside the Venezuelan security forces and face criminal charges themselves in the U.S.

U.S. investigation into food corruption

The Associated Press reported in February that federal prosecutors have been digging for months into Mr. Saab’s role in an alleged bribery conspiracy involving Venezuelan government contracts to import food.

The investigation stems from a 2021 case the Justice Department brought against Saab’s longtime partner, Alvaro Pulido, a former law enforcement official said. That prosecution, out of Miami, centres around the so-called CLAP program set up by Mr. Maduro to provide staples — rice, corn flour, cooking oil — to poor Venezuelans struggling to feed themselves at a time of rampant hyperinflation and a crumbling currency.

Mr. Saab is identified in the indictment as “Co-Conspirator 1″ and allegedly helped set up a web of companies used to bribe a pro-Maduro governor who awarded the business partners a contract to import food boxes from Mexico at an inflated price.

Mr. Saab was first arrested in 2020 after his private jet made a refuelling stop in Cape Verde en route to Iran on what the Venezuelan government described as a humanitarian mission to circumvent US sanctions.

Ms. Rodriguez celebrated Mr. Saab’s return in 2023 as a “resounding victory” for Venezuela over what she called a U.S.-led campaign of lies and threats. But several Republicans criticised the deal, including Sen Chuck Grassley, of Iowa, who wrote a letter to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland saying history “should remember (Saab) as a predator of vulnerable people.”

Over the objections of law enforcement, Mr. Biden in 2023 agreed to free Mr. Saab in exchange for the release of several imprisoned Americans and Venezuela’s return of a fugitive foreign defence contractor known as “Fat Leonard.” The deal came as part of an effort by the Biden White House to roll back sanctions and lure Mr. Maduro into holding a free and fair presidential election.

Mr. Biden’s pardon of Mr. Saab was narrowly tailored to a 2019 indictment — the case number is cited in the pardon itself — related to a contract he and Mr. Pulido allegedly won through bribes to build low-income housing units in Venezuela that were never built.

A possible witness against Maduro

Should Mr. Saab be returned to U.S. custody, he could become a valuable witness against Mr. Maduro.

The businessman secretly met with the Drug Enforcement Administration before his first arrest and, in a closed-door court hearing in 2022, his lawyers revealed that the businessman, for years, helped the DEA untangle corruption in Mr. Maduro’s inner circle. As part of that cooperation, he forfeited more than $12 million in illegal proceeds from dirty business dealings.

Mr. Saab’s Miami-based attorney, Neil Schuster, declined to comment. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Published – May 17, 2026 07:45 am IST

Supporters of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores gather in their support, as Maduro and Flores were attending a hearing in a Manhattan federal court, more than two months after U.S. military forces captured them in a surprise raid on Caracas and ferried them to New York, in Caracas, Venezuela, on March 26, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Laura Dogu, the top U.S. envoy for Venezuela, arrives in Caracas, Venezuela, on January 31, 2026, as the two countries gradually resume bilateral relations, in this picture obtained from social media. (X/@usembassyve via Reuters).

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday (January 11, 2026) his administration was working well with Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez — and that he would be open to meeting with her.

Mr. Trump’s upbeat remarks came just over a week after Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was seized in a U.S. special forces raid and brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

Mr. Trump has said that the United States now has de facto control of Venezuela, as it enforces a naval blockade of the South American nation’s vital oil exports.

Ms. Rodriguez, despite being a close Maduro ally, has indicated a willingness to work with the United States, saying she is open to cooperate on Mr. Trump’s demands for access to Venezuelan oil.

Her government has also vowed to release political prisoners and begin talks on reestablishing diplomatic ties with Washington.

U.S. envoys visited Caracas on Friday (January 9, 2026) to discuss reopening Washington’s embassy there.

“Venezuela is really working out well. We’re working along really well with the leadership,” Mr. Trump told reporters Sunday (January 11, 2026) aboard Air Force One.

Asked if he planned to meet with Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Trump said: “At some point I’ll be.”

He also said he expected to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Tuesday (January 13, 2026) or Wednesday (January 14, 2026).

Many were stunned when Mr. Trump dismissed the possibility of Ms. Machado serving as Venezuela’s interim leader following the toppling of Mr. Maduro, and instead accepted Ms. Rodriguez’s ascent.

Ms. Machado was given the Nobel Peace Prize last year and dedicated it to Mr. Trump, though he has made no secret of his frustration at being passed over for the award.

Political prisoners

The Venezuelan government began to release prisoners jailed under Mr. Maduro on Thursday (January 8, 2026), saying a “large” number would be released — but rights groups and the opposition say only about 20 have walked free so far, including several prominent opposition figures.

Relatives have gathered outside prisons believed to be holding political detainees, to await their loved ones’ release, sometimes even camping outside.

Rights groups estimate there are 800 to 1,200 political prisoners currently being held in Venezuela.

“Venezuela has started the process, in a BIG WAY, of releasing their political prisoners. Thank you!” Mr. Trump said in a post late Saturday (January 10, 2026) on his Truth Social platform.

“I hope those prisoners will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done.”

Meanwhile, a detained police officer accused of “treason” against Venezuela died in state custody after a stroke and heart attack, the state prosecution service confirmed Sunday (January 11, 2026).

Opposition groups said the 52-year-old man, Edison Jose Torres Fernandez, had shared messages critical of Mr. Maduro’s government.

“We directly hold the regime of Delcy Rodriguez responsible for this death,” Justice First, part of the Venezuelan opposition alliance, said on X.

Late Saturday (January 10, 2026), families held candlelight vigils outside El Rodeo prison east of Caracas and El Helicoide, a notorious jail run by the intelligence services, holding signs with the names of their imprisoned relatives.

Prisoners include Freddy Superlano, a close ally of Ms. Machado who was jailed after challenging Maduro’s widely contested reelection in 2024.

“He is alive — that was what I was most afraid about,” Mr. Superlano’s wife Aurora Silva told reporters.

“He is standing strong and I am sure he is going to come out soon.”

Mr. Maduro’s supporters rallied in Caracas on Saturday but the demonstrations were far smaller than his camp had mustered in the past, and top figures from his government were notably absent.

Oil

Mr. Trump pressed top oil executives at a White House meeting on Friday to invest in Venezuela, but was met with a cautious reception.

ExxonMobil’s chief executive Darren Woods notably dismissed the country as “uninvestable” without sweeping reforms — earning a rebuke from Mr. Trump.

“I didn’t like Exxon’s response. You know, we have so many that want it, I’d probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn’t like their response. They’re playing too cute,” Mr. Trump said Sunday (January 11, 2026).

Experts say Venezuela’s oil infrastructure is creaky after years of mismanagement and sanctions.

Published – January 12, 2026 11:35 pm IST

U.S. President Donald Trump said that American companies were prepared ​to return to Venezuela and spend billions to reactivate the struggling oil sector. File
| Photo Credit: AP

File photo of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
| Photo Credit: KCNA/Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered “a total and complete blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, and labelled the government of President Nicolas Maduro “a foreign terrorist organisation”, sharply escalating his pressure campaign against the South American nation.

In a social media post, Mr. Trump said the “the illegitimate Maduro regime is using oil” from the fields stolen from the U.S., “to finance themselves, drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder and kidnapping”.

For the theft of our assets, and many other reasons, including terrorism, drug smuggling, and human trafficking, the Venezuelan regime has been designated a foreign terrorist organization,” wrote Mr. Trump. “Therefore, today, i am ordering a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into, and out of, Venezuela.”

Mr. Trump’s announcement came days after the U.S. seized a tanker carrying Venezuelan crude off its coast, tightening its stranglehold over the Maduro regime. The U.S. has already carried out dozens of air strikes in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific waters on boats which it said were carrying drugs. The U.S. is also building up military presence around Venezuela, triggering speculations that it could start a new bombing campaign inside the country.

The U.S. Navy’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald Ford, has been deployed to the Caribbean along with a carrier strike group, including war ships. F-35A stealth jet fighters, EA-18G Growler planes, HH-60W rescue helicopters and HC-130J rescue planes are staged in Puerto Rico in Venezuela’s neighbourhood. The U.S. says the Maduro regime is closely tied to a drug cartel, without providing any evidence.

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America,” Mr. Trump wrote in his post on Tuesday (December 16, 2025). “It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before.”

When the U.S. seized the tanker, Mr. Maduro showed defiance and accused Washington of naval piracy. “We have to be like warriors, with one eye peeled and the other as well,” he said.

On Wednesday (December 17, 2025), in response to Mr. Trump’s decision to impose the blockade, the Venezuelan government said in a statement: “The president of the United States is trying in an absolutely irrational manner to impose a supposed military naval blockade on Venezuela to steal the riches of our homeland. Venezuela will never go back to being a colony of the empire, nor any other foreign power.”

But the Trump administration’s decision to expand the pressure campaign targeting the tankers is expected to enhance the economic pressure on the already embattled regime of Mr. Maduro. Crude sales represent more than 90% of Venezuela’s export income. Venezuela is mostly dependent on a so-called shadow fleet to send its oil to receiving countries, mostly China. Venezuela is moving more than 600,000 barrels of oil every day, but the U.S. blockade could paralyse the tanker traffic which in turn would further squeeze the government’s finances.

Trump officials have said in the recent past the administration’s objective was to force out Mr. Maduro. María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, has said she “absolutely supports President Trump’s strategy” on Venezuela. Earlier this month, Mr. Trump himself said Mr. Maduro’s “days are numbered”. The White House has signalled that the U.S. would seize more tankers carrying Venezuelan fuel.

“America will not allow criminals, terrorists, or other countries, to rob, threaten, or harm our nation and, likewise, will not allow a hostile regime to take our oil, land, or any other assets, all of which must be returned to the United States, immediately,” Mr. Trump said on Tuesday (December 16, 2025).

Published – December 17, 2025 05:53 pm IST