Alex Saab, Venezuelan diplomat and businessman, who is illegally detained in Cape Verde has enjoined African countries to rise against the shackles of western imperialism and domination.
Saab made the call in a statement he released to mark Africa Day, an annual commemoration of the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity on 25 May 1963
The Venezuelan who has been in detention in Cape Verde since June 2020, said he was impressed with the resilience that Africans have shown towards various attempts to disrupt African’s long history and stability.
Saab said he was committed to the founding objectives of the organisation.
“This day of liberation is dear to me. It is meaningful in many ways. As an Ambassador of Venezuela to the African Union, I fully share this ‘common vision of a united and strong Africa’ and I fully adhere to these “noble ideals which guided the founding fathers of our continental organisation and generations of Pan-Africanists in their determination to promote unity, solidarity, cohesion and cooperation among the peoples of Africa and the African States,” he said.
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela intends to consolidate its friendly relations with African nations in full respect of these values. But this day of liberation is also dear to me as a freedom fighter against the imperialist domination that continues in various forms to oppress other cultures.”
“I have in mind the oppressed, I have in mind the persecuted, I have in mind the unfortunate ones chained by the neo-colonial power that continues, in other forms, to enslave.”
Alex Saab was arrested on June 12, 2020, during a stopover in Cape Verde while on a humanitarian mission, flying from Caracas to Iran to procure food and gasoline for the Venezuelan CLAP food assistance program.
He was detained based on the request of the Donald Trump-led United States government over allegations of money laundering.
But analysts have argued that his continued detention and the planned extradition to face charges in America is politically motivated.
This is despite rulings by regional courts, citing the arrest of the businessman as illegal. On March, 15, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) court ruled that the continued detention and push for the extradition of Venezuelan diplomat, Alex Saab by the Cape Verde government is illegal.
The judgement of the ECOWAS court is based on the absence of a Red Notice when Saab was arrested in June last year. An INTERPOL “red notice” was not issued until a day after Saab’s arrest, this move not only amounted to kidnapping, but also an abuse of international law.
Despite this clear disregard for the court order, Saab concluded that his illegal detention in Cape Verde would not be in vain as “freedom is the only goal worth sacrificing the lives of men”.
“These words are those of a friend of the oppressed, a friend of Africa, an ambassador to the African Union arbitrarily detained by Cape Verde on the orders of the Trump Administration for almost a year. These words are there to remind you that freedom must be conquered every day and is never acquired. I know this all the more because I am deprived of it.”