(Bloomberg) -- Venezuela’s government pulled out of a round of negotiations with the political opposition set to begin on Sunday in Mexico to protest the extradition of a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro to the U.S.
“The government is suspending its participation in the negotiation and dialogue roundtable,” said Jorge Rodriguez, president of the government-controlled National Assembly and chief of the government delegation. “We will not be attending the round that was set to start tomorrow in Mexico City.”
Colombian businessman Alex Saab was sent on a plane to the U.S. on Saturday, after spending over a year fighting extradition in the courts of Cape Verde, where he was detained. Saab, who faces money laundering charges in a U.S. federal court in Florida, was recently added as a member of the Venezuelan government’s negotiation team.
Read: Maduro Dealmaker Extradited to U.S. on Corruption Charges
“This inhumane action constitutes a new act of aggression by the U.S. against Venezuela,” Rodriguez said. He demanded for Saab to be released immediately after the Maduro administration called the move a “kidnapping.”
Hours after Saab was put on a plane to Florida, Venezuela’s security forces took six Citgo executives, who were released in May to house arrest in a decision widely perceived as peace gesture to the U.S. Lawyers say their whereabouts are currently unknown.
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