Thread by @ThorHalvorssen

#AlexSaab, key man for #Venezuela’s illegal drug/gold/sanctions deals, is @NicolasMaduro’s chief financial officer managing all economic crime. He’s also the briber-in-chief. Arrested on a fuel stop-over in Cape Verde on his way to Iran, he’s about to be extradited to the US. 🤯

https://twitter.com/contrapuntovzla/status/1372204192400543746

The extradition of Saab to Venezuela would be a cataclysmic event for the Maduro dictatorship. Saab is the financial mastermind of the criminal syndicate running Venezuela. He knows where all of the money came from, where it has gone, where it is hidden, and in whose name.

Saab is also in charge of paying bribes abroad--whether to other heads of state, government ministers, high powered law firms, lobbyists, and so on. The Maduro dictatorship is in absolute panic over his arrest. This is an extinction level threat to Maduro.

Venezuela's regime established an impressive effort in Cape Verde to halt the extradition. First, they hired the disgraceful Baltasar Garzon (the formerly heroic human rights judge from Spain who has since become the lawyer for so many different Venezuelan criminals and thieves)

Beyond sparing no expense on legal team, The Maduro regime began an extensive lobbying effort with diplomatic assistance from a chorus of nations: Iran, Russia, Cuba. They also marshaled a monumental social media campaign with 500K tweets from digital warriors based in Nigeria

Saab, as the bagman for Maduro and his family, was given a diplomatic passport as a Venezuelan "Ambassador," yet he's actually a Colombian citizen from Barranquilla. He grew rich in a dubious public housing transaction granted to him by Hugo Chavez. He became a billionaire.

Two days ago the Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice ordered the release of Saab. The ECOWAS court claims it is above the Supreme Court of Cape Verde. Yet in the last hour Cape Verde has said it will ignore ECOWAS ruling and proceed extraditing Saab.

The basis for extradition is an indictment for a $350 million money laundering scheme. Here is the link to the indictment: justice.gov/opa/press-rele… this theft from the Venezuelan treasury is one of dozens of financial crimes. Saab was so good Maduro made him his financial brain.

The American law firm @BakerHostetler is representing Saab in the U.S. and claiming that his "diplomatic status," means he has immunity. However, you can't retroactively apply diplomatic status to someone whose crimes took place years before he was made Ambassador.

Interestingly, Saab was always just a "Colombian businessman," and never once referred to as a "Venezuelan diplomat" prior to his arrest. Only after his detention did Venezuela claim he is an Ambassador. Saab is WANTED in the U.S., in Colombia, and in Italy. Interesting times!

If the extradition succeeds (and at this point it's not about the law but rather a proxy struggle between democratic forces versus dictatorships and their criminal syndicates) Saab will likely negotiate leniency in exchange for providing the U.S. with devastating intel on Maduro

The cyberwar component is very interesting. Venezuela went analog with a graffiti campaign "Free Alex Saab" both in Venezuela and in Cape Verde (an island 3,000 miles away). And it also went full in with an army of bots, trolls, and "influencers." ft.com/content/ac40d3…

Venezuela suffers from the HIGHEST poverty and extreme poverty in the Western Hemisphere. And Alex Saab was the key figure in defrauding the food aid program for Venezuela's poor. Yet Maduro produced a (crappy) concert calling for his liberation! insightcrime.org/news/venezuela…

The next few days may well determine the fate of the Maduro criminal enterprise that holds Venezuela in a vice grip. If Saab boards the DEA plane and spills the T it may be the beginning of the end. Meanwhile, their desperate propaganda campaign continues bloomberg.com/news/articles/…