Freed Venezuelan Alex Saab says was tortured by US
3 Min Read
The US abducted Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab in 2020 with the hopes of extracting information about shipping routes that Venezuela has been using to bypass US sanctions, but that failed, even after torture.
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Venezuelan President Maduro and Alex Saab, left, walk out of the Miraflores presidential palace after a meeting in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, December 20, 2023. (AP)
Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, who was liberated from US prison after his kidnapping from Cape Verde in 2020 through a prisoner exchange deal that took place in December of this year revealed, in a podcast with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, that he was tortured during his imprisonment.
"The second night (in Cape Verde) the beatings began. Almost my whole body was left bruised. They cut up my arms... they poured alcohol and water on me, they put the lamp on my face," Saab explained adding "They knocked out three of my teeth... they hit me hard."
Saab stressed that his "torture", which dragged over months, was because he would not reveal any information about the shipping routes Venezuela uses to bypass US sanctions. Saab's kidnappers had hoped to extract that information one way or another.
The torture, according to Saab, ended in October 2020 after his lawyers managed to get him a visit from an unnamed human rights group.
Saab also described the circumstances of his detention where he was being held in a "three meters by three meters" glass cell that had no food or water adding that he was given a "stretcher", in the frigid cold where he noted, "I think it was -10 degrees (Celsius), we were shivering."
Moreover, Saab explained that he and his business partner, Alvaro Pulido, were charged by the US under the pretext of operating a network that took advantage of food aid intended for the South American nation suffering from a devastated economy, despite its significant oil wealth.
Saab and his business partner Alvaro Pulido were charged in the United States with running a network that exploited food aid destined for Venezuela, where millions have fled a struggling economy despite its significant oil wealth. The allegations also suggested that Saab and Pulido had also transported $350 million out of Caracas which has been sanctioned by the US.
'Justice has triumphed': Maduro welcomes freed diplomat Alex Saab
The Venezuelan government announced on December 21 the return of Saab to his homeland after being unjustly abducted from a prison in the United States.
In a statement, the government expressed the Venezuelan people's pride in welcoming Saab back, following three and a half years of illegal detention and harsh, inhumane, and humiliating treatment in violation of the diplomat's human rights and the Vienna Convention that grants diplomatic immunity.
The government highlighted that Saab was a victim of the US government's retaliation against his exceptional international efforts to protect the social rights of all Venezuelans, despite the intensified unilateral coercive measures.
The Venezuelan government praised the courage of Saab's wife, children, and family for defending their dignity, accompanying him throughout his ordeal, and hoping for his release.
The statement also demanded the immediate and unconditional lifting of the injustice and siege imposed by the United States administration against the Venezuelan people.
Read more: US tries Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, setting dangerous precedent
