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February 16, 2022
My name is Oscar Lopez Rivera, I’m a former Puerto Rican political prisoner who spent 36 years in prison in the United States for fighting against the colonial status of my country.
Having suffered all kinds of abuse while incarcerated, I can understand the critical situation that Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab is experiencing at this time.
From my own experience, I can understand the pain of Camilla Fabri Saab, wife of Alex Saab. I can empathize with the suffering of his children who have not seen their father for almost two years. I can comprehend Alex Saab's pain upon learning of the death of not one, but both, of his parents while he was in prison in an unwelcoming unknown land.
On June 12, 2020, the Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab was seized by order of U.S. officials, during a refueling stop on a flight from Venezuela to Iran. He was imprisoned on Cabo Verde, a small island nation off the western coast of Africa, for trying to buy humanitarian supplies in legal international trade but in violation of unilateral illegal US sanctions.
On October 16th, 2021, Saab was kidnapped from Cabo Verde, by U.S. officials, desperately acting before the legal process in Cape Verde was complete, and is now being illegally held in the Federal Detention Center in Miami, FLA. The case raises dangerous precedents both in terms of the violation of rules which have been established for centuries governing the freedom of movement of diplomats and the extraterritorial judicial overreach by the US in enforcing its unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela and 40 other countries, comprising a third of humanity. Alex Saab's only "crime" is following the orders of his president on behalf of the people of Venezuela and finding ways to legally engage in trade to alleviate the hardship caused by the United States.
The Venezuelan people as well as the Puerto Rican people are fighting for their sovereignty. The United States intends to strangle the Venezuelan economy and break the legitimate resistance of the people of Simon Bolivar, the liberator.
The arrest, imprisonment, kidnapping and torture of a diplomat is an unprecedented violation of international laws. The international community must sit up and take notice of what has been done. Yesterday, Alex Saab, tomorrow it could be anyone of you.
As a former political prisoner, as a man who has fought against colonialism, and as a Latin American, I invite all people of the "Patria Grande", wherever they are, say in unison with us, “Free Alex Saab Now!”
Please subscribe to our campaign below to receive reports on the Alex Saab case and actions that the Free Alex Saab coalition will carry out.
Thank you very much for your support on behalf of the Alex Saab family, the Venezuelan people and my own.
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Honorary Chair of Free Alex Saab
Oscar Lopez Rivera
The following organization have endorsed the campaign to Free Alex Saab. If your organization would like to endorse the campaign, please include you org name when signing!
Alliance for Global Justice
American Jurist Association
National Lawyers Guild
CodePink
Center For Political Innovation
Chicago ALBA Solidarity
Council Of Hemispheric Affairs
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice
Frente Hugo Chavez para la Defensa de los Pueblos- Canada
International Action Center
Miami Green Party
People's Opposition to War Imperialism and Racism
Task for on the America
The Bolivarian Circle Negra Hipolita Miami
Troika Collective
United National Antiwar Coalition
US Hands Off Cuba and Venezuela South Florida