Letter of Alex Saab – August 10, 2020

Date: August 10,  2020

Title: My name is Alex Saab

Addressed to: Ulisses Correia

Your Excellency Ulisses Correia e Silva Prime Minister of the Republic of Cape Verde

Varzea Government Palace, Cidade da Praia, Ilha de Santiago, Republic of Cape Verde.

Dear Prime Minister, my name is Alex Nain Saab Moran and I have been illegally detained in your country for 57 days already, while I await the review of an unsubstantiated and politically motivated extradition request made by the United States. I am compelled to write to you given the great injustice that has been committed. I have been denied of the right to a hearing and my legal team has not had access to the prosecutor’s report, something unprecedented in Cape Verde’s legal history. Furthermore, I’m sure you have heard of me; I am also certain that you will not know much true or modified information about me.

Although I was born in Barranquilla, Colombia, I am a Venezuelan citizen and I have lived in Caracas since 2004. I feel deeply grateful for the opportunities that Venezuela has given me, and I have tried to return this generosity and hospitality to its people. My parents emigrated from Lebanon in 1960 and created a textile business that, first through their hard work and later through the efforts of my brothers and me, existed for more than 50 years until we decided to go separated ways in business. At the age of 18 I created my own clothing brand and after turning 20 I left a family business that had 2,000 direct workers and 10,000 indirect workers.

The company produced more than 12 million clothes a year and exported to 20 countries. At the age of 21, I owned one of the largest textile companies in Colombia. I combined my work in the fashion world with investments in construction projects, thanks to which more than 1,000 apartments were built privately and without subsidies or government aid. I am telling you all this to show you that I am a normal person with an ordinary past whom, thanks to hard work, has been able to build a successful business in the private sector without receiving government benefits.

Over the years I have earned the trust of Venezuela because I have been professional, I have dealt with difficult payment conditions, caused by the blockade that Venezuela has faced, and I have used my own funds to fulfill contracts. Let me tell you about the main reason I am writing you, I want to ask you why I have been illegally detained for almost two months. During two months in which, despite having provided clear and unequivocal evidence of serious health problems, I have been given a rudimentary medical care and have lost almost 20 kg of my normal weight; all this despite having suffered from cancer. I have noticed that, in your country, even drug traffickers have received better treatment and have been offered house arrest; things have not been made available to me even though I am a Special Envoy. The United States has put on a uniform and has declared itself the police of the world.

The United States has made public its goal of changing the regime in place in Venezuela, and its achievement has brutalized the people and economy of Venezuela, regardless of the consequences. Their desire to extend their claims extraterritorial goes against all international law and is unprecedented in our times. The United States has accused me, without providing the slightest solid evidence, of alleged crimes whose only connection to the United States is the existence of payments made to or through US bank accounts. Payments that I didn’t do personally or that I was in charge of, due that they were contractual obligations or credit card bills for which no alternative payment methods were offered. I am convinced that they forgot to inform you that those same accusations have already been investigated by the Republic of Ecuador (and Venezuela itself) and no evidence of infractions was found.

For these reasons, is the United States saying that Ecuador is also part of a corrupt conspiracy controlled by me? As a sign of gratitude for fulfilling my obligations and contracts, in April 2018, Venezuela recognized my contribution by appointing me a special envoy, with the diplomatic immunity and privileges that such a position entails. Given the vengeful attitude politically oriented from the White House, I was tasked with meeting and negotiating with foreign governments and private companies to create new channels to obtain and deliver basic needs like food, medicine, and spare parts needed for the oil industry. As a special envoy, I have the responsibility to carry out the humanitarian needs that are assigned to me. This was the reason why I went to Iran in April, to negotiate the delivery of petrol and other products such as spare parts to boost the oil industry in Venezuela.

When I was illegally detained in Cape Verde on June 12, I was traveling to Iran on a special humanitarian mission under the title of special envoy, with full immunity under international law. I have known for some time that I had become the primary target of the United States and that, according to their extraterritorial models, they were prepared to go as far as possible to stop me from carrying out my obligations to the people in Venezuela. This distorted mentality included kidnapping me, like in a Hollywood movie, to introduce me to their version of “justice.” We all know that the judges in the US criminal justice system don’t care if you’ve been arrested or extradited; if you are in his room, you can, and you will be judged without considering the norms of intentional law or basic human rights.

On June 12th, when the plane in which I was traveling to carry out my special mission made a technical stop in Cape Verde, an officer, who did not identify himself but spoke perfect English, forced me off my diplomatic plane using an INTERPOL red alert as a pretext. It was 8:oo p.m. in Cape Verde, 11:00 p.m. in Lyon, where the INTERPOL base is located. We know that the red alert wasn’t issued until June 13, so I was basically kidnapped. From the airport, the police locked me in a cell for two days without food or electricity. During this period, his official “strongly” insisted that I should sign my voluntary extradition order, which I refused. I am certain, Prime Minister, that you were not aware of this cruel and inhuman treatment. However, I find it difficult to accept that even after Venezuela formally declared my immunity, you did nothing to rectify the situation. I have no doubt that your disregard will have legal and political consequences.

Your country became independent only 45 years ago, but unfortunately, there are countries like the United States that consider Cape Verde a second-class country that does not deserve an appropriate level of respect. What is the point of proclaiming your independence and now submitting (illegally) to please the United States? I doubt that the people of Cape Verde agree with this, as they have always been discriminated against and belittled by the United States. Prime Minister, I assure you that Venezuela will always treat you with greater respect and present you with more opportunities from the US. As a special envoy of my country, I can help Cape Verde more than the United States will in 100 years. Venezuela will always be a better ally than the US regime that restricts the rights of those it considers “enemies” of the State. Venezuela will always see Cape Verde as an equal sister nation and will never be a friend by convenience. I simply ask for justice and that Cape Verde, as a member of the United Nations, respect my immunity and allow me to return to my country.

Yours sincerely,

Alex Nain Saab Moran
Special Envoy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela