Tarek William Saab Halabi (born 1963) is a Lebanese-Venezuelan politician, lawyer and poet. He is a human rights activist and a leader of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) party founded by Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela. He has been the Governor of Anzoátegui since 2004.

Background

The son of Lebanese immigrants, Saab was born in El Tigre, Anzoátegui, Venezuela. He studied criminal law at the Universidad Santa María and human rights law at the Universidad Central de Venezuela.

Career

Saab was a member of the Constitutional Assembly 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 coupists had gathered around Saab's home, threatening him and his family. He was held incommunicado for several hours.

While Saab was head of the foreign policy commission of Venezuela's National Assembly in 2002, he was refused an entry visa to the United States. Reuters reported that Saab told local television he was denied the visa because a U.S. State Department report "identified him as 'an individual linked to international subversion'." According to Venezuela's El Universal, Saab gave a press conference, in which he referred to published information that he had been denied the visa as a consequence of his ties with international terrorist organizations. Saab denied that he was associated with international terrorism or subversive groups.

Governor of Anzoátegui

Anzoátegui State Governor Election, 2004 Results Source: CNE data

Candidates Votes % Tarek W. Saab 187209 57% Antonio Barreto 138120 42%

Saab was elected Governor of Anzoátegui in the Venezuelan regional elections, 2004, 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 elections 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.

Books

Saab has written several literary works in Spanish, among them: 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).

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