United States — Drug Enforcement Administration & Delcy Rodríguez

United States — Drug Enforcement Administration: Alex Saab secretly met with the United States — Drug Enforcement Administration before his first arrest and helped them untangle corruption in Nicolás Maduro's inner circle.

Delcy Rodríguez: Delcy Rodríguez, acting President of Venezuela, demoted Alex Saab and is seen as having generated goodwill in Washington by bending to demands to open up Venezuela's oil and mining industries to American investment, a move that angered some Chavistas.