Maduro ally freed in US prisoner exchange joins government cabinet
Al Jazeera
Colombian businessman Alex Saab will become new industry minister, in latest cabinet change since contested election.
Alex Saab, an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro freed in a prisoner exchange with the United States last year, will join Venezuela’s government as the new industry minister.
Maduro announced on Friday that Saab, a Colombian businessman previously jailed in the US on money laundering charges, would replace Pedro Tellechea in the position.
Tellechea said in a social media post that he had made the “difficult decision” to resign due to “health problems that require my immediate attention”.
The change marks the latest cabinet change for Maduro, who reshuffled his cabinet in August amid political turmoil after a contested election the opposition maintains Maduro lost, despite his claims of victory.
