Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab on Wednesday resigned from his position after almost nine years — only for him to be appointed as interim Ombudsman moments later after Ombudsman Alfredo Ruiz also resigned on the same day.
Saab – a lawyer, poet, and a self-declared “stoic Buddhist” – is one of the most infamous “original” members of the Venezuelan socialist regime and a man once known as the “Poet of the Revolution,” a designation given by late dictator Hugo Chávez at the start of his rule in 1999. Saab, a close ally of deposed socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, was among the group of lawyers that represented Chávez and other individuals involved in the failed February 4 and November 27, 1992, coup attempts against late President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
In a letter written this month to mark the first month since the arrest of Maduro and Flores, Saab recounted that he met Flores in the early 1990s when they both represented Chávez and the rest of the coup plotters — establishing deep ties to Flores to the extent that he considered her as his “sister.”
Much like Maduro and Flores, Saab eventually joined Chávez’s Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) party, a precursor organization to the present-day United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), as the ruling socialists rose to power, serving different executive and legislative positions until he was appointed as attorney general in 2017 — serving as a key figure of Maduro’s persecution of political dissidents.
The United Nation’s Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela accused Saab of omitting investigations on torture and human rights abuses committed against Venezuelans, as well as using the Venezuelan judiciary system to persecute dissidents of the ruling socialists. Former political prisoners of the Maduro regime have accused Saab of “whitewashing” the brutal regime and fabricating cases against dissidents on behalf of the ruling socialists.
On Wednesday, the head of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, announced that he received two separate letters — one with Saab’s resignation and one with the resignation of Ombudsman Alfredo Ruiz. Saab surprisingly resigned from his position after having been ratified in 2024 as attorney general by the socialist lawmakers for a new seven-year period, until 2031.
Saab has not publicly commented on his resignation at press time. The Venezuelan outlet La Patilla reported on Wednesday night that, shortly after he presented his resignation, Saab rebranded his institutional Instagram account and renamed it @budistaestoico7, which translates to “Stoic Buddhist.”
He published a copy of his resignation letter on the renamed account, which read:
I am submitting my resignation after having served with dignity and honor in this position amid historic circumstances that pose an exceptional challenge for the present and future of our country, where we play the constitutional role of preserving peace and protecting the human rights of our people during a period of unimaginable aggression against the Venezuelan nation.
We are proud to have formed, based on the values of republican ethics, a great team that, during my tenure, worked with us to promote decisive actions in favor of the most vulnerable sectors of society, such as children, women, the elderly, and pets, among others, without distinction.
Moments later, in a surprise move, the Venezuelan socialist lawmakers temporarily appointed Saab as interim ombudsman in light of Alfredo Ruiz’s resignation. Ruiz reportedly justified his resignation as driven by personal, family, and health reasons. Saab will allegedly serve as ombudsman until the lawmakers appoint a replacement for Ruiz.
Jorge Rodríguez, who is the brother of “acting President” Delcy Rodríguez, reportedly pointed out that there is presently no deputy attorney general at Public Prosecutor’s Office who can temporarily assume Saab’s position while the National Assembly launches a selection process for his successor.
Moments later, the Venezuelan socialist lawmakers appointed lawyer Larry Devoe as interim attorney general. Local outlets described Devoe as a close ally of Delcy and Jorge Rodríguez’s who has served different positions across the Venezuelan executive. According to the outlet Tal Cual, Devoe once served in “up to seven” different positions simultaneously.
Jorge Rodríguez swore in both Saab and Devoe to their interim positions on Wednesday night. Saab reportedly swore that he “would continue to safeguard republican peace through public programs that care for girls, boys, women, the elderly, and even pets,” through the Office of the Ombudsman.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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