Fact Check: Watch out for this video of Venezuelans celebrating Maduro's capture, thanking Trump

Fact Check: Watch out for this video of Venezuelans celebrating Maduro's capture, thanking Trump

Emery Winter

Tue, January 6, 2026 at 12:42 AM UTC

6 min read

Close up of what appears to be a shirtless man crying with a crowd behind him. — X user @WallStreetApes

Claim:

A video shared to social media in January 2026 authentically showed people in Venezuela celebrating the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and thanking U.S. President Donald Trump.

Rating:

In January 2026, the U.S. military struck Venezuela's capital and captured the country's president, Nicolás Maduro, under the orders of President Donald Trump. People on social media quickly began sharing what they claimed were images and videos of people in Venezuela responding to the attack.

A video posted to X (archived) and viewed millions of times appeared to show four separate clips of Venezuelan people on the streets with crowds of people celebrating the U.S. capture of Maduro and thanking Trump for ordering it. The video was also widely shared on other social media sites, such as Facebook (archived). Screenshots of the video's four clips were popular on Facebook (archived) and Threads (archived).

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1401307918073213/?__cft__[0]=AZbjHQ-TRBecog7KZhM5ag5ljNzpzg9dQrktd-fMUNqs2Fe_uJQcjZuZrM9cfyQpcip9U7W5IrhTuzRbdA_ILPIk17whaP581aMqlEkAxCNEyitbWr6Aq-dxetkQ0IxK_AEcs3rbpqhW7iPWvPYpzl8ws7-Q2ZRLucwhvhysOuAKVxTGERJfScjWkND2M86zxPjUDSkZ6q530kRCsmgMSM09&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

The video clips did not show real Venezuelans reacting to Maduro's capture. They were created using artificial intelligence tools. Because of this, we've rated this claim as fake.

All four clips contained signs that they were AI-generated. One detail we'll highlight several times is Venezuela's flag, which has three horizontal bars of yellow, blue and red from top to bottom and eight white stars in a crescent at the center of the blue bar. AI-generated videos and images often have errors within the background, especially in small details like stars on a flag.

For example, in the first clip showing an elderly woman clutching a Venezuelan flag, two people in the background appeared to be wearing shirts meant to depict the Venezuelan flag. However, both shirts lack the red bar at the flag's bottom and the shirt of the woman on the left has only six stars. Another unusual aspect of the video clip is how it repeatedly zooms in and out, something a human would be unlikely to do while keeping the same person in focus.

Near the end of the second clip, just over the subject's shoulder on the left side of the frame, a car appears with an illegible white license plate, possibly with five or six characters separated by a space at center. At the time of Maduro's capture, the only license plates legally issued for private vehicles in the country were white, yellow, blue and red from top to bottom, with seven unseparated characters.

In the third clip, a Venezuelan flag with seven stars instead of eight also appears over the subject's shoulder on the left side of the frame.

Finally, in the fourth clip, a Venezuelan flag with too many stars appears to the left of the woman's head. Snopes could count more than a dozen visible at 55 seconds into the X video. The stars appeared to be arranged in rows resembling the U.S. flag instead of the crescent shape used in the Venezuelan flag.

The subjects in the video were generally a bit jittery in their movements, while the majority of the crowds appeared to be stuck in stiff, repetitive motions — both of which are hallmarks of AI generation.

Venezuelans reportedly voiced mixed reactions to the U.S. capture of Maduro. According to reporting from the BBC and CNN, some Venezuelans were grateful to the U.S. for removing Maduro from power while others began rallying in the streets to protest Maduro's capture.

A few weeks earlier, Venezuela's legislature, which was dominated by Maduro loyalists, passed a law declaring anyone who spoke positively of the U.S. blockade of the country a traitor. Because Maduro's allies remained in power in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. operation, some of those happy with the end of Maduro's rule were not comfortable expressing it publicly. Even some of those grateful for Maduro's ouster told the BBC they were uneasy about the country's uncertain future or wary about the extent of U.S. involvement in the country.

Some of the Venezuelans who spoke with English-language news reporters, including one who spoke with NPR, have said that neighborhood streets were quiet or even abandoned in the immediate aftermath of Maduro's capture due to fear, uncertainty and a tense atmosphere.

Many Venezuelans living abroad, often people or families who have fled the country during Maduro's and his predecessor Hugo Chávez's rule, have openly celebrated Maduro's ouster. People took to the streets to celebrate the news in Doral, Florida, which is home to the highest concentrations of Venezuelans in the United States.

Snopes continues to fact check claims related to the U.S. capture of Maduro, including whether U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries tried to contact the ousted president before his capture.

Sources:

Davies, David Martin. "Venezuelans React to U.S. Capture of Maduro and the Future of Their Country." NPR, 5 Jan. 2026, www.npr.org/2026/01/05/nx-s1-5666328/venezuelans-react-to-u-s-capture-of-maduro-and-the-future-of-their-country. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

Goodwin, Grace Eliza. "Venezuelans React to US Maduro Arrest with Hope and Uncertainty." BBC, 4 Jan. 2026, www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86vq753nwpo. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

"Las Placas Identificadoras de Vehículos Son Fundamentales Para Circular En El Territorio Nacional – Instituto Nacional de Transporte Terrestre (INTT)." Intt.gob.ve, 25 Apr. 2024, www.intt.gob.ve/inttweb/?p=13918. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

"License Plates of Venezuela." Worldlicenseplates.com, www.worldlicenseplates.com/world/SA_VENE.html. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

Lilley, Sandra, et al. "Tears, Relief and Questions about What Comes Next: Venezuelans in U.S. Celebrate Maduro Capture." NBC News, 3 Jan. 2026, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/venezuelans-in-us-react-maduro-ouster-trump-rcna252052. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

Macaya, Melissa. "January 4, 2026 — Maduro Awaits Court Appearance." CNN, 4 Jan. 2026, www.cnn.com/world/live-news/venezuela-trump-maduro-01-04-26. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

"Rubio Says US Not at War with Venezuela, as Maduro Set to Appear in New York Court on Monday." BBC News, www.bbc.com/news/live/c5yqygxe41pt?post=asset:1c86abcb-cdc7-4ae2-8412-7cebe1230fdd#post. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

Smith, Whitney. "Flag of Venezuela." Encyclopædia Britannica, 2019, www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Venezuela. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

TRTWorld. "Venezuelans Protest in Caracas Following the US Bombardment and Capture of Maduro." Www.youtube.com, 5 Jan. 2026, www.youtube.com/shorts/ou_m-4_6_J8. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

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