On 03 January 2026, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were detained by US forces in Caracas and taken to the United States to face federal charges, including alleged narco‑terrorism and drug‑trafficking offences. On 05 January 2026, both pleaded not guilty in a New York federal court. The Venezuelan government condemned the operation as a violation of its sovereignty, while interim authorities in Caracas have sought their release (here, here, here, and here).
Amid this, a video (here, here and here) circulating on social media claims to show citizens in Venezuela tearing down a poster of President Nicolás Maduro after he was captured by US forces. Let’s find the truth behind this video.
Claim: The video shows Venezuelan citizens tearing down posters of President Nicolás Maduro in celebration after he was captured by US forces.
Fact: The video dates back to July 2024 and shows protesters pulling down a poster of President Nicolás Maduro during election-related protests in Venezuela, much before his capture by US forces. While several media outlets reported celebrations following Maduro’s ouster, the viral video has no connection to those events. Hence the claim is MISLEADING.
To find the truth, we conducted a reverse image search on Google, which led us to the same video uploaded by an Instagram handle named enesfreedom on 30 July 2024, much before the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by US forces.
We also found the same video uploaded on multiple X handles in July 2024 (here and here), where it was shared with captions stating that posters of President Nicolás Maduro were being torn down across Venezuela.
Further searches found the video uploaded on Newsflare as well, dated July 2024, with the caption stating that protesters were seen pulling down a billboard of President Nicolás Maduro in Maracay amid election-related outrage in Venezuela. This confirms that the video predates any claim about Maduro’s capture by US forces and was filmed in Venezuela during earlier protests.
Additionally, while several media outlets reported celebrations (here, here, here and here) among Venezuelans in Venezuela and abroad following Nicolás Maduro’s capture by US forces, the viral video has no connection to those events.
To sum up, a 2024 video of protesters tearing down President Nicolás Maduro’s poster is being shared as visuals from after his capture by US forces.
