Fact Check: Is the video showing arrest of Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores real?
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A video began circulating this month showing the ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores being apprehended during the dramatic US military operation.
The video has been shared across various social media platforms, sparking questions about its authenticity.
Claim: Video shows the moment US soldiers arrested Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores
Following the dramatic US military operation in Venezuela, leading to the arrest of Maduro and his wife, a video has been spreading on the internet claiming to show the moment the US Delta Force units arrested the socialist leader and his wife.
The video shows Maduro and Flores being handcuffed and escorted by two armed US soldiers.
Fact Check: The viral video is AI-generated
The footage is evidently AI-generated and is falsely circulated as a real-life incident. Initially, no information regarding the authenticity of the video was found from any credible media or official sources.
Moreover, the video was verified using various AI detector softwares, which indicated that the video has a 91.9% to 99.9% probability of being AI-generated.
Based on an investigation done by the fact-checking site Rumor Scanner, the search led to a video published on January 3 from an Instagram channel named "adeeoficial" where the video is identical to the one in question.
The account was found to contain multiple AI-generated videos, and the account’s bio even states that the owner is an AI content creator.
US forces captured Nicolas Maduro in January 3 Caracas raid
Explosions rocked the Venezuelan capital in the early hours of January 3 as US forces conducted an operation to capture Maduro.
According to reports, the mission targeted heavily guarded locations to facilitate the swift extraction of Maduro and Flores.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the couple would "face the full wrath of American justice" on US soil.
The operation follows years of US pressure on Maduro, including bounties placed on his head, which escalated from $15 million to $25 million under the previous administration, and further to $50 million under the current administration.
President Donald Trump pointed to Maduro's alleged ties to d**g cartels, including the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which has been linked to several criminal activities in the US.
One of them was a kidnapping in Colorado, where a victim's finger was severed.
In a full address, Trump described the raid as "one of the most stunning" displays of US military prowess.
