The US admits that it released Alex Saab as part of its strategy to prevent Venezuelan migration

The United States admitted this Thursday that it released the Colombian businessman Alex Saabclose associate of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduroas part of its strategy to stop Venezuelan migration.

At a press conference, the spokesman for the White House National Security Council John Kirbysaid that the “work” that the Joe Biden government is doing with Venezuela is “important for addressing the root causes of migration.”

FIND OUT MORE | The US releases businessman Alex Saab, a close associate of Nicolás Maduro

The official said that “there are many factors” that explain the migratory phenomenon and “one of them is political instability in the region”.

Kirby explained that Wednesday’s prisoner exchange and negotiations for democratic elections in Venezuela They are part of efforts to reduce migration.

On Wednesday, the U.S. He freed Saab in exchange for the release of 10 Americans and around twenty Venezuelans considered “political prisoners”.

The exchange is included in US mediation in negotiations between the Venezuelan opposition and the Maduro Government to achieve “free and fair” presidential elections in 2024.

CHECK OUT HERE | Nicolás Maduro receives Alex Saab at the presidential palace, after his release in the USA.

Saab’s return to Venezuela was one of the Venezuelan government’s main conditions for continuing the dialogue with anti-Chavism.

The Venezuelan crisis is the biggest migration crisis on the continent, forcing more than 6.6 million people to abandon their homes and live in other countries in America.

This unprecedented movement of people reached the United States and in fiscal year 2023, authorities detained more than 200,000 Venezuelans at the border with Mexico.

Colombian businessman Alex Saab at the Miraflores Presidential Palace, in Caracas, on December 20, 2023. (Photo by Federico Parra / AFP) (FEDERICO PARRA/)

In response, the Democratic Administration took a series of measures specifically aimed at this group, such as the resumption of deportation flights to Venezuela in October of this year.

At the same time, it created legal migration channels for Venezuelans, including humanitarian permission, also known as “parole,” which grants legal status for two years in the United States.

Source: Elcomercio