Maduro Ally Alex Saab Arrested in Venezuela in Joint U.S. Operation

The arrest of Alex Saab on Feb 4 marks the clearest operational test yet of Washington’s tentative reset with Caracas, translating recent diplomatic signals into coordinated law enforcement action. A U.S. official said Saab, 54, was detained in Venezuela in a joint operation with U.S. authorities and is expected to be extradited to the United States within days, a move that would reverse his high-profile return to Caracas in late 2023 and reinsert corruption cases into the center of bilateral engagement.

Saab, a Colombian-born businessman and longtime ally of former President Nicolas Maduro, had been held in the U.S. for more than three years after his 2020 detention in Cape Verde on bribery charges tied to Venezuela’s state-controlled exchange rate system. Before being granted clemency in 2023 in exchange for the release of Americans held in Venezuela, U.S. prosecutors accused Saab of siphoning around $350 million through the U.S. as part of a corruption scheme.

Maduro later appointed him industry minister, a post he held until last month, when interim President Delcy Rodriguez removed him.

Joint Operation, Contested Narrative

While the U.S. law enforcement official confirmed Saab’s detention, his lawyer Luigi Giuliano told Colombia’s El Espectador the arrest was “fake news,” and pro-government journalists in Venezuela echoed the denial on social media. Venezuela’s top lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez said at an evening press conference that the matter was not under his remit and he had no information. Giuliano later told TalCual that Saab might appear publicly to clarify events but was consulting with authorities.

The same U.S. official said Raul Gorrin, head of Globovision TV, was also arrested. Lawyers for Gorrin could not immediately be identified. The U.S. Justice Department, the White House, and Venezuela’s communications ministry did not respond to Reuters for comment.

The U.S. official underscored the role of interim President Delcy Rodriguez, noting that as Venezuela’s current leader she controls law enforcement agencies and authorized the joint action.

The development follows Maduro’s own capture by U.S. forces in Caracas roughly one month earlier, a sequence that signals an unprecedented level of operational cooperation.

From Sanctions to Security Coordination

Political messaging from Washington has emphasized continuity rather than rupture. Speaking yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump said of Venezuelan acting president Delcy Rodríguez: “So far she has done a good job, she and all of the people working with her are doing fine,” adding that the process avoided the institutional collapse seen in Iraq, where he said dismantling security structures helped give rise to ISIS. “But this one (Venezuela) is handled very well.”

Senator Marco Rubio had also framed the shift in historical terms on his senate speech a week ago, explaining Venezuela pre-Chávez was a strong U.S. ally and that Washington hopes to return to that relationship, while adding that the process is “still in its infancy,” even as “a lot of progress has been made.”

Saab’s case now sits at the intersection of accountability and rapprochement. His earlier legal strategy hinged on claims of diplomatic immunity, an appeal still unresolved at the time of his 2023 clemency.

His extradition, if completed, would reopen proceedings tied to alleged financial crimes while testing Caracas’s willingness to expose former regime insiders to U.S. courts.

Economic Reset Under Pressure

Caracas is pairing security cooperation with an economic rebrand, even as years of policy under Maduro and the sanctions on the country have left Venezuela unable to realize those ambitions. Venezuela’s Vice President for Economy Calixto Ortega Sánchez said yesterday that the country wants to move beyond its identity as the holder of the world’s largest oil reserves.

“We want to be known as one of the countries with the highest production levels,” he said, arguing for diversification using hydrocarbon revenues - a goal officials now seemingly concede was unattainable under Maduro’s model.

Ortega Sánchez also pointed to the impact of sanctions on state capacity when he said they didn’t have access to their own money. He added, “If you allow us to function like a regular country, Venezuela will show extraordinary improvement and growth.”

Saab’s detention adds a hard edge to this reset narrative. For Washington, it demonstrates leverage and continuity in anti-corruption enforcement. For Caracas, it risks internal backlash while offering proof of compliance to unlock financial normalization.

The outcome will shape whether this emerging channel remains transactional or evolves into a durable framework for cooperation.