Tarek William Saab Halabi (, ; born 10 September 1962) is a Venezuelan politician, lawyer, and poet. He was a leader of the

Fifth Republic Movement The Fifth Republic Movement (Spanish: ''Movimiento V uintaRepública'', MVR) was a Socialism, socialist political party in Venezuela. It was founded in July 1997, following a national congress of the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200, to ...

(MVR) party founded by

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

, President of Venezuela, who publicly called him "The poet of the revolution". He was the Governor of

Anzoátegui Anzoátegui State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, states of Venezuela, located in the northeastern region of the country. Anzoátegui is well known for its beaches that attract many visitors. Its coast consists of a single beach approx ...

from 2004 to 2012, and a member of the Committee for Justice and Truth since 2013. In December 2014, he was elected "People's Defender", or Ombudsman, by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

for 2014–2021 term. On 5 August 2017, the National Constituent Assembly appointed him as

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

in substitution of Luisa Ortega Diaz.

Early life and education

Tarek William Saab was born on 10 September 1962 into a family of Lebanese merchants. Saab began his Law School studies in 1985 in Santa Maria University, but for undisclosed reasons he did not graduate in the regular 5 years (his class was graduated in 1990), but graduated as an attorney in 1992.

Career

After Hugo Chavez took office he was a member of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

that drafted in 1999 the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. In 2000, he was elected a member of the Venezuelan National Assembly. During the coup d'état of April 2002, Saab was imprisoned by security forces after a crowd of protesters had gathered around Saab's home, threatening him and his family. He was held incommunicado for several hours.Tarek Saab detained by security forces
state.gov; accessed 8 July 2015. In October 2002, Saab was head of the foreign policy commission of Venezuela's National Assembly, and was refused an entry visa to the United States. Reuters reported that Saab told local television he had been denied the visa because a

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

report "identified him as 'an individual linked to international subversion'". According to Venezuela's ''El Universal'', Saab said he been denied the visa because of alleged ties with international terrorist organizations, which he denied any association with. Saab is an outspoken critic of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. He is also a outspoken critic of the current

president of Brazil The president of Brazil (), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil () or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head of government of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the ...

and former political ally of

Nicolas Maduro Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...

and the current

president of Chile The president of Chile (), officially the president of the Republic of Chile (), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is responsible for both Government of Chile, government administration and s ...

Gabriel Boric Gabriel Boric Font (; born 11 February 1986) is a Chilean politician and the President of Chile since 2022. He previously served two four-year terms as a deputy in the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Chamber of Deputies. Boric first gained prom ...

after Lula and Boric openly criticized the transparency of the 2024 Venezuelan elections.

Governor of Anzoátegui

Saab was elected Governor of Anzoátegui in the 2004 regional elections, and re-elected in 2008. In 2005 Saab was accused by critics within his own party (MVR) of participating in electoral fraud in the

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

s for 2005 local elections. His predecessor as governor of Anzoátegui, David de Lima, accused Saab of using his position for political persecution, after Saab's wife accused De Lima of mismanagement.

Ombudsman

In 2014, Saab was elected to the post of

ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

(''Defensor del Pueblo'') by the parliament, for a term of seven years, with opposition considering the election unlawful on procedural grounds. During the

2014 Venezuelan protests In 2014, a series of protests, political demonstrations, and civil insurrection began in Venezuela due to the country's high levels of urban violence, inflation, and chronic shortages of basic goods attributed to economic policies such as strict ...

, Saab was criticized by the opposition because it believed he sided with the government during the protests. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' stated that the opposition viewed him as "an apologist for the unpopular government of President Nicolás Maduro".

Attorney General

On 5 August 2017 the National Constituent Assembly appointed him

after former Prosecutor General

Luisa Ortega Díaz Luisa Marvelia Ortega Díaz (born 11 January 1958) is a Venezuelan lawyer. Between December 2007 and August 2017, she served as the Prosecutor General of Venezuela. A proponent of the Chavismo ideology, Ortega Díaz was fired as Prosecutor Gene ...

was removed from office for allegedly being part of the "counterrevolution". This occurred months after Saab stated himself that he had "no gut, no encouragement, no willingness to be Attorney General" and that he wanted to be Prosecutor "not yesterday, not today, not tomorrow". On 14 June 2018, the National Constituent Assembly appointed Saab as president of the Truth Commission, considering the appointment of the constituent

Delcy Rodríguez Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez (born 18 May 1969) is a Venezuelan lawyer, diplomat, and politician who has served as the vice president of Venezuela since 2018. Rodríguez has held several positions during the presidencies of Hugo Chávez and ...

as Venezuela's Vice-President. On 2 February 2023, the National Bolivarian Police of Nueva Esparta state arrested two men implicated in an assassination attempt on several high-ranking officials of the Public Prosecutor's Office, including Saab, whose foiled attempt had been ordered by

Jhonatan Marín Jhonatan is a given name, a variant spelling of Jonathan (name), Jonathan. Jhonatan may refer to: *Jhonatan Jardines Fraire (born 1980), Mexican politician *Jhonatan Solano (born 1985), Colombian baseball catcher *Jhonatan Luz (born 1987), Brazilia ...

, a former mayor of

Guanta Guanta is the capital and largest city of Guanta Municipality. Together with Barcelona, Puerto La Cruz and Lechería it forms a conurbation of around 1.2m inhabitants. The town is named for the cacique Guantar of the Cumanagoto people, the ind ...

municipality, accused of corruption in Venezuela and convicted of bribery in the United States. In April 2023, Saab said 51 people had been detained in connection with a corruption investigation at the state oil company

PDVSA Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (acronym PDVSA, , English language, English: Petroleum of Venezuela) is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil as well as e ...

and the metal conglomerate Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana (CVG). During its 2023 annual report before the

United Nations Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per yea ...

, experts questioned William Saab's independence. One of its members, Juan Manuel Santos Pais, remarked: "I have never seen a prosecutor defend a government so much."

Sanctions

In July 2017, the

United States Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and ...

sanctioned thirteen senior officials of the Venezuelan government, including Saab, associated with the

2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election Constituent Assembly elections were held in Venezuela on 30 July 2017 to elect the members of the 2017 Constituent National Assembly (; ANC). Unlike the 1999 Constituent National Assembly, which was assembled following a referendum, the 2017 elec ...

s for what the Treasury describe as their role in undermining democracy and human rights. Tarek William Saab has been sanctioned by several countries and is banned from entering neighboring Colombia. The Colombian government maintains a list of people banned from entering Colombia or subject to expulsion; as of January 2019, the list had 200 people with a "close relationship and support for the Nicolás Maduro regime". In September 2017 Canada sanctioned 40 Venezuelan officials, including Saab. Also at an
El Nacional
/ref> Canada said the sanctions were "in response to the government of Venezuela's deepening descent into dictatorship". Canadians were banned from transactions with the 40 individuals, whose Canadian assets were frozen. On 18 January 2018, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

sanctioned seven Venezuela officials, including Saab, and accused them of human rights abuses or breaching the rule of law. The sanctioned individuals were prohibited from entering the nations of the European Union, and their assets were frozen. In March 2018, Panama sanctioned 55 public officials, including Saab. Also a
Panama Economic and Finance Ministry
On 20 April 2018, the

Mexican Senate The Senate of the Republic (), constitutionally the Chamber of Senators of the Honorable Congress of the Union (), is the upper house of Mexico's bicameral Congress. It currently consists of 128 members, who serve six-year terms. History A b ...

froze the assets of officials of the Maduro administration, including Saab, and prohibited them from entering Mexico. Also a
VPITV
/ref>

Literary work

Tarek began writing poetry at the age of fourteen, when he studied at the Liceo Briceño Méndez in El Tigre, Anzoátegui, publishing poems in the Antorcha newspaper of that city. In the 1980s, his poems reached the pages of Papel Literario de El Nacional. The influence of the American poets of the

beat generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...

such as

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

and the

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

counterculture movement were influential in the beginnings of Tarek William Saab's poetry, as were his readings of the German novelist Herman Hesse. In 1993 he was selected by a jury to represent Venezuela at the "Foro Literatura y Compromiso" (Literature and Commitment Forum) held in Mollina/Malaga (Spain). His book "Los Niños del Infortunio" was written after he was invited by Cuban President

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

, during an interview in Havana in 2005, to visit the Cuban medical mission in Pakistan. It was presented at the Cuban capital's book fair the following year, in the presence of Castro and Hugo Chávez. Chávez dubbed him "el poeta de la revolución" (the poet of the revolution).

Books

Saab has written numerous publications, including ''Los ríos de la Ira'' (1987), ''El Hacha de los Santos'' (1992), ''Príncipe de Lluvia y Duelo'' (1992), ''Al Fatah'' (México, 1994), ''Angel Caído Angel'' (1998), ''Cielo a Media Asta'' (2003), ''Cuando Pasen las Carretas'' (2003), ''Poemas selectos'' (Colombia, 2005), ''Los niños del infortunio'' (Cuba, 2006. China, 2007), ''Memorias de Gulan Rubani'' (Caracas, 2007), ''Un paisaje boreal'' (Valencia, 2008. Caracas, 2009), ''Hoguera de una adolescencia intemporal'' (Caracas, 2022).Tarek William Saab profile
analitica.com; accessed 7 July 2015.

Notes

External links

Anzoátegui State Governor Election, 2004 Results
cne.gob.ve; accessed 7 July 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saab, Tarek 1962 births Anti-Zionism in South America 21st-century Venezuelan poets Fifth Republic Movement politicians Governors of Anzoátegui Living people Members of the National Assembly (Venezuela) Ombudsmen People from El Tigre United Socialist Party of Venezuela politicians 20th-century Venezuelan lawyers Venezuelan male poets Universidad Santa María (Venezuela) alumni People of the Crisis in Venezuela Venezuelan people of Lebanese descent Venezuelan Buddhists Members of the Venezuelan Constituent Assembly of 1999