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.