Venezuela has pulled the plug on a false claim which circulated Wednesday that diplomat Alex Saab is working as an “informer” or “collaborator” of the United States and specifically of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
President of the National Assembly Jorge Rodríguez said this latest U.S. fabrication resembles the media falsehoods of an invented February 15th imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine which likewise never happened.
When asked by a reporter following a press conference, Rodríguez called it strange that the United States would claim that Alex Saab has “collaborated” when it’s widely known that the diplomat was savagely tortured; “two of his teeth were knocked out; they kept him incommunicado, on the floor full of worms. He was also kidnapped 24 hours before the elections which the criminal president who submitted to the designs of Washington was going to lose.”
“It’s a lot like this whole Ukraine tale. The invasion of Ukraine was yesterday, and the troops are here and they are coming (…) Now they come out with this line about Alex Saab. If that’s the case, why did they knock out two of his teeth by beating him savagely back in Cape Verde?” expressed Rodríguez.
Venezuela: 'If Alex Saab is working with the DEA, why was he tortured until his teeth were knocked out?' Video: @madeleintlSUR pic.twitter.com/ciKE2hrsgt
— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) February 17, 2022
The parliamentary leader went on to argue that Saab’s treatment looks nothing like the treatment of actual known informants and collaborators.
“Why was he unspeakably tortured? Why do they keep him in inhumane conditions in a prison, in a cell, which no human being should be subjected to whose human rights should be respected? And why do they subject him to constant mechanisms of psychological terrorism? Why was he tortured over and over and over again in Cape Verde? It’s weird, isn’t it?” insisted the parliamentarian.
“The United States knows very well how it treats its spies. Ask Clíver Alcalá Cordones how they are treating him. Ask Cristopher Figuera how they are treating him. Or Rafael Ramírez how they treat him in Europe, how he lives.”
In a statement released Wednesday, Alex Saab’s defense in the U.S. assured that the Venezuelan government was aware of its special envoys meetings with U.S. authorities. Lawyer David Rivkin stressed that any interaction was carried out with the full knowledge and support of the Bolivarian government and that the disclosure of the information also seeks to harm the interests of Venezuela.
Featured image: President of the National Assembly Jorge Rodríguez
