This is the best summary I could come up with:
In exchange, Maduro will free some, if not all, of the at least 10 U.S. citizens who remain imprisoned in Venezuela, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The deal is also likely to anger the Venezuelan opposition, who have of late criticized the White House for standing by as the leader of the OPEC nation has repeatedly outmaneuvered the U.S. government after the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign failed to topple him.
Saab, 51, was pulled off a private jet during a fuel stop in Cape Verde en route to Iran, where he was sent to negotiate oil deals on behalf of Maduro’s government.
The charges: conspiracy to commit money laundering tied to a bribery scheme that allegedly siphoned off $350 million through state contracts to build affordable housing for Venezuela’s government.
Saab was previously sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for allegedly running a scheme that included Maduro’s inner circle and stole hundreds of millions in dollars from food-import contracts at a time of widespread hunger mainly due to shortages in the South American country.
The most notable prisoner exchange came last December when the U.S. government, over the objections of some Republicans in Congress and criticism from some law enforcement officials, traded Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner.
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The US government arresting foreign nationals like this ultimately endangers Americans who travel abroad. Other governments at odds with the US have to arrest US citizens to use as bargaining chips to get their own people back in prisoner swaps like this. It ruins lives and could be avoided if the US didn’t go around trying to play world policeman.
Ah so just let international operatives commit any crimes they want without repercussions?
No, but also don’t go around arresting people for political reasons to be used as bargaining chips. The circumstances surrounding his arrest are suspicious, with an interpol notice not being issued until the day after, for financial crimes. The US then fought for his extradition, against concerns from the UN’s human rights committee, and then ultimately dropped the charges due to a lack of evidence, but kept him in prison. Finally, he’s been released in a prisoner swap because he’s not a threat to anyone, just a political bargaining chip for the US to play against Venezuela when the time is right.
