Britain on Thursday sanctioned one of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s envoys, Alex Saab, in connection with an allegedly corrupt deal to obtain supplies for Maduro’s government-run food subsidy programme.
By Reuters – Marc Jones
Jul 22, 2021
Saab, a Colombian national, is currently detained in Cape Verde facing extradition to the United States, which accuses him of helping Maduro’s government skirt U.S. sanctions imposed in 2019.
Britain said Saab had been sanctioned along with his associate Alvaro Pulido for exploiting two of Venezuela’s public programmes which were set up to supply poor Venezuelans with affordable foodstuffs and housing.
“They benefited from improperly awarded contracts, where promised goods were delivered at highly inflated prices,” the UK Foreign Office said in a statement. “Their actions caused further suffering to already poverty stricken Venezuelans, for their own private enrichment.”
Venezuela’s foreign ministry responded in a statement that Britain was presenting itself as an “anti-corruption judge for the world, while acting as one of the main responsible parties for the theft of assets belonging to all Venezuelans.”
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Read More: Reuters – Britain sanctions Venezuelan President Maduro’s envoy Saab
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