Alex Saab Regains Influence in Venezuelan Government, Tightens Grip on His Betrayers
Despite appearing sidelined and even abandoned by Nicolás Maduro’s government while detained in the United States, Colombian businessman Alex Nain Saab Morán has regained significant influence within Venezuela’s power structure, now relentlessly pursuing those who betrayed him. Many of his informers, who had enjoyed a sense of respite while Saab was in U.S. custody, now find themselves in his crosshairs once again.
Recently, President Maduro appointed Saab as Minister of Industry and National Production, replacing Pedro Tellechea, who shortly after his dismissal was detained by SEBIN (Venezuelan intelligence service) and charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Tellechea stands accused of having “handed over the Automated Control and Command System, known as the brain of PDVSA, to a company linked to U.S. intelligence services.”
Tellechea’s removal is yet another example of Saab’s ongoing purge of rivals, many of whom are now behind bars. Last year, former business partner Álvaro Pulido Vargas, and earlier this year, former finance minister Simón Zerpa, were both arrested. Zerpa’s arrest was reportedly an act of retaliation after he disclosed details about the flight carrying Saab to Iran to U.S. authorities—a flight that led to Saab’s detention in Cape Verde during a refueling stop. Zerpa had a close connection with U.S. prosecutor Kurt Lunkenheimer, while Pulido Vargas cooperated with the DEA, providing information about Saab and Venezuelan government figures in exchange for an end to his prosecution in the U.S. The South Florida prosecutors, initially Michael Nadler and later Lunkenheimer, oversaw Saab’s case from his indictment to his trial. Through his lawyers, David B. Rivkin Jr. and Joseph M. Schuster, Saab accessed the entire case file, gaining detailed information about all those who had contributed to his incarceration. He is now focused on seeking retribution against them.
Tellechea, meanwhile, has privately been accused by Saab of selectively awarding contracts to suppliers for the government’s oil-for-food program, which Saab himself managed until his detention. Among the primary beneficiaries of this new arrangement was businessman Jorge Giménez Ochoa, a close ally of Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and the president of the Venezuelan Football Federation. Giménez is currently under investigation in Spain as part of the “Aldama plot,” where he allegedly profited from selling overpriced masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Another figure linked to the redistribution of this program is businessman Antonio González Morales, who attempted to take over the food distribution business under the CLAP system. According to the investigative outlet ArmandoInfo, both Giménez and González Morales share partnerships in various ventures, including Alimentos Fruca, Turismo Real, Constructora 2GM, and Alimentos Lual, among others. Now, several businessmen who rival Saab are under his scrutiny as he seeks retribution against those who crossed him.
The execution of Saab’s vendetta has been supported by Diosdado Cabello, recently appointed Minister of Interior and Justice, who appears to be reclaiming influence within Maduro’s inner circle at the expense of siblings Jorge and Delcy Rodríguez. Shortly after assuming office, Cabello appointed Major General Javier Marcano Tábata as head of the Military Counterintelligence Directorate, replacing Iván Hernández Dala, and his cousin, Major General Alexis Rodríguez Cabello, as head of SEBIN, taking over from General Gustavo González López. These shifts have sidelined the Rodríguez siblings, whose influence is now diminished by the alliance between Cabello and Saab, as they consolidate their power.
With the backing of Attorney General Tarek William Saab—recently reaffirmed in his position by the National Assembly—the formidable alliance between Cabello and Saab has established a powerful judicial arm. This duo now has free rein to compile cases and detain those they see fit, continuing their strong and unyielding control over the apparatus of Venezuelan state power.
