Venezuelans march in support of diplomat Alex Saab, in Caracas, December 16, 2022. Photo: AlNavio.
On Friday, December 16, demonstrators marched to the headquarters of the Venezuelan National Embassy in Caracas with the slogan “Free Alex Saab,” denouncing the kidnapping of the Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab by the United States. The special diplomatic envoy of Venezuela has been illegally detained in a US prison since October of last year.
The demonstration was attended by the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez; Alex Saab’s wife, Camilla Fabri; representatives of the Free Alex Saab Movement, as well as employees of the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Ministry.
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Jorge Rodríguez repudiated the torture and inhuman acts to which Saab has been subjected during his illegal detention, first in Cape Verde and then in the United States, and that his only crime was to try to find alternative ways to bring food and fuel to Venezuela, bypassing the US blockade.
“Diplomat Alex Saab was one of those people with dignity, who went all over the world risking his safety and his own life, to circumvent the measures that are at odds with international law,” said Rodríguez, referring to the unilateral coercive measures, for which “sanctions” is a misnomer, that have been imposed on Venezuela by the United States and the European Union.
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He also pointed out that “there is no other possible ruling than that this Florida court certifies Alex Saab’s status as a diplomat of peace, and releases him.”
Camilla Fabri highlighted her husband’s commitment as well as that of her own to Venezuela and its people. “Although Saab has been kidnapped for 30 months, he continues to resist and fight, just like the people of Venezuela,” she said.
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Richard Vélez, a participant in the march, stated that the “world should know that Alex Saab has been a victim of this criminal empire, because he was courageously helping the Venezuelan people, through the procurement of medicine and food.”
Alex Saab was appointed special diplomatic envoy of the Venezuelan government to the Islamic Republic of Iran in April 2018, which guarantees him diplomatic immunity in accordance with the Vienna Convention. However, the US has refused to acknowledge this fact, and in October 2021 he was illegally extracted from Cape Verde where he had been controversially detained since June 2020, and taken to a US federal prison in Florida.
(RedRadioVE) by Victoria Torres
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SC
