US EditionVenezuela’s interim leader sacks Maduro ally Alex Saab as industry minister
Interim president Delcy Rodríguez merged the industry ministry with commerce and reassigned Alex Saab amid U.S. pressure following the January 3 military operation, officials said.
- On Friday, January 16, 2026, Delcy Rodriguez dismissed Alex Saab as minister of industry and announced the Ministry of Industry and Commerce would merge, thanking Saab for his service and new responsibilities.
- The change followed pressure from Washington after the January 3 operation, as US officials including CIA chief John Ratcliffe visited Caracas and a US deportation flight carrying 231 Venezuelans landed there.
- After his 2023 release in a prisoner exchange, Alex Saab returned to Venezuela, received a hero's welcome in Caracas, and assumed the industry ministry in October 2024.
- The move is one of several cabinet adjustments Rodriguez has made since assuming power; she said her government will stand up to Washington and Saab will assume new responsibilities.
- Observers say the reshuffle under US pressure could affect post-Maduro governance and international ties, while Donald Trump backed Delcy Rodriguez after the January 3 operation, linking support to US access to Venezuela's oil reserves.
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The President-in-Charge merges two economic ministries and separates the most controversial businessman in the regime from the Government.
Alex Saab Morán, the businessman who was a figure close to Nicolás Maduro, was dismissed from the Ministry of Industry and National Production by the president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, after a restructuring in the Venezuelan cabinet. Rodríguez made the announcement in his Telegram account, where he expressed his gratitude to Saab for “his work at the service of the Homeland” and assured that he “will assume new responsibilities.”…
The president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, has designated on Friday new headlines for the Venezuelan Executive's portfolios of Communication and Information, Transport and Ecosocialism, in a series of changes, including the removal of President Nicolás Maduro's frontman, Alex Saab, as Minister of Industry."I thank Comrade Álex Saab for his work at the service of the Homeland; who will assume new responsibilities," the president publi…
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