NGOs Urge Action on Xi Jinping, Tanzania Faces Legitimacy Crisis, Alex Saab Pleads Guilty, and more.

HRF condemns the corruption at the heart of the Venezuelan regime and the oligarchs who build their wealth by helping authoritarian regimes consolidate their power through gross and systematic human rights violations. Alex Saab is a perfect example of this kind of scheme, and he is finally being held accountable.

Last week, Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman who built his fortune by dealing closely with the regime of Nicolás Maduro, pleaded guilty to money laundering and agreed to forfeit $195 million. Saab and others in the regime profited from the hunger of Venezuelans through a bribery scheme to win contracts to import food and medicine for CLAP, the regime’s subsidized food program.

Corruption and authoritarianism very often go hand in hand. Saab is believed to have served as a front man for Maduro, handling money for a regime built on massive networks of illegal activity and organized crime.

Although Saab was deported to the US by the regime of Delcy Rodríguez in May, there are no signs of increased transparency or genuine efforts against corruption, as corrupt oligarchs remain closely linked to the regime. Alejandro Betancourt, who built his wealth through shady dealings under Hugo Chávez, is once again a key player in the regime’s energy policy.

HRF highlights the findings of the latest @UNHumanRights Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela, which warns that, despite a decline in long-term detentions since Jan. 3, the state institutions responsible for gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity remain intact.

The UN report revealed that after Jan. 3, the regime adopted a recurrent pattern of short-term arbitrary arrests aimed at intimidating opposition activists, journalists, and civil society actors. Hundreds remain arbitrarily detained under inhumane conditions, while pro-government armed civilian groups known as “colectivos” continue to operate with state backing to terrorize communities and dissidents.

This ongoing cruelty is exemplified by the case of opposition leader Carlos Tovar, coordinator at @VenteVenezuela in Aragua. Detained since June 2024 on trumped-up charges, Tovar was recently prohibited by the regime from paying his respects to his father after his passing.

The UN Mission emphasized that recent releases do not amount to a transformation of the system that enabled these abuses. HRF joins in calling on the world’s democracies to maintain pressure on Venezuela’s regime to dismantle its machinery of repression and release all remaining political prisoners.