What was claimed
A video shows citizens of Venezuela ripping down a poster of Nicolás Maduro after he was seized by the United States.
Our verdict
This video actually dates back to July 2024, and was filmed during protests after a disputed presidential election.
A video showing people tearing down a poster of Nicolás Maduro has been shared thousands of times on social media in recent weeks, with captions implying the footage was filmed after the US seized the Venezuelan leader on 3 January.
But this video was actually filmed in July 2024, after a disputed presidential election in the country.
The video has been shared on Facebook, Instagram and X with captions saying local residents were ripping down posters of Mr Maduro “following his arrest by the US Delta Force” or “following his capture by the United States government and indictment on narco-terrorism charges”.
Although it is true that the US seized Mr Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on 3 January 2026, the video being shared on social media is much older.
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We traced it back to a clip shared widely on social media on 29 July 2024, when there were protests after a disputed result in the country’s presidential election. Media reports at the time referenced campaign posters for Mr Maduro being pulled down.
We often see videos and images shared online in the wake of major global events that don’t show the things they claim to, and have seen other examples of out of context videos and images shared about the situation in Venezuela. For tips on how to verify content before you share it, read our guide.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because this video is from 2024, not 2026.
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