Graffiti Pops Up in Caracas Praising Maduro Financier Saab
Bloomberg
2/5/2021
Patricia Laya and Alex Vasquez
(Bloomberg) -- President Nicolas Maduro’s Colombian financier Alex Saab is being labeled “the people’s savior” in new graffiti across Caracas ahead of a key hearing Friday on his alleged role in bribing Venezuelan officials.
Stenciled graffiti of Saab’s face and pleas for his freedom started to appear on Caracas’ main avenues before a court hearing in Cape Verde, where he has been detained since June pending a U.S. extradition request. The mysterious scribbles reading “The people are with Alex Saab” and “Freedom for Venezuela’s diplomat, fighter and compatriot,” -- when most Venezuelans do not know who Saab is -- suggest the government considers the case important enough to try to drum up popular support.