Disinformation, misinformation, or the spread of false information by any other moniker is not a new phenomenon. However, asymmetric exploitation within the information environment—by nation-state and non-state actors—are increasingly diffuse and effective. As the information environment continues to expand and transform at an ever-accelerating rate, monitoring the digital engagement space with an approach that actively informs this environment, as opposed to responding to it, is increasingly necessary. #AlertaVenezuela is paving the way for a deeper understanding of the complexities of the information environment in and around Venezuela. By exposing and explaining disinformation in this context, the Atlantic Council will shed light on the path ahead for combatting disinformation and foreign interference around one of the hemisphere’s largest economic, political and humanitarian crises.

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#AlertaVenezuela

Mar 24, 2021

#AlertaVenezuela: March 24, 2021

By Atlantic Council’s DFRLab

Maduro, blaming Colomiba and Venezuelans returning from there for the spread of COVID-19, has called for a “radical quarantine” over two weeks.

Disinformation Venezuela
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Mar 17, 2021

#AlertaVenezuela: March 17, 2021

By Atlantic Council’s DFRLab

Pro-Maduro site Justiciafuser amplified misleading claims about Alex Saab, a confidant of Maduro who’s currently being held in Cape Verde ahead of extradition to the US.

Disinformation Venezuela
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Mar 10, 2021

#AlertaVenezuela: March 10, 2021

By Atlantic Council’s DFRLab

Seven videos on a Colombian YouTube channel appeared among the 20 most viewed videos about Venezuela between March 1 and 9, 2021. The videos falsely claimed that Maduro had been captured or that the United States had attacked Venezuela.

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Mar 3, 2021

#AlertaVenezuela: March 2, 2021

By Atlantic Council’s DFRLab

Maduro’s Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino announced alleged attempts by the Colombian government to destabilize Venezuelan regime.

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Feb 23, 2021

#AlertaVenezuela: February 23, 2021

By Atlantic Council’s DFRLab

While Maduro’s regime promoted diplomat Alex Saab, online accounts showed suspicious behavior using #FreeAlexSaab.

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Feb 16, 2021

#AlertaVenezuela: February 16, 2021

By Atlantic Council’s DFRLab

Two Panamanian YouTube channels spread unsubstantiated claims targeting the Maduro regime, claiming a military revolt will occur due to the Sputnik V vaccine not arriving for another four years.

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Feb 9, 2021

#AlertaVenezuela: February 9, 2021

By Atlantic Council’s DFRLab

A small group of accounts used the hashtag #VenezuelaSolidariaYHumanista in hundreds of thousands of mentions during the first four hours, showing signs of inauthentic behavior and traffic manipulation.

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Feb 3, 2021

#AlertaVenezuela: February 3, 2021

By Atlantic Council’s DFRLab

A DFRLab investigation into Telegram groups found clues about how the Maduro regime rewards users for promoting hashtags on Twitter.

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Jan 26, 2021

#AlertaVenezuela: January 26, 2021

By Atlantic Council’s DFRLab

An anti-Maduro video garnered thousands of views after claiming that Maduro had been ousted from power, betrayed by Maduro’s U.S. diplomat Alex Saab.

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Jan 19, 2021

#AlertaVenezuela: January 19, 2021

By Atlantic Council’s DFRLab

After hospitals in the Brazilian city Manaus ran out of oxygen to help treat COVID-19 on January 14, Maduro offered to make oxygen available to the neighboring country.

Disinformation Venezuela

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Oct 27, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: October 27, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

After Voluntad Popular's National Coordinator abandoned the Spanish ambassador’s residence in Caracas, pro-Maduro Twitter accounts promoted hashtags to influence Twitter’s conversation

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Oct 20, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: October 20, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Videos reporting on Venezuela and posted by Colombian YouTube channel Noticias Mundiales Al Día outperformed videos and channels on social media.

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Oct 14, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: October 14, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Nicolás Maduro claimed anew that Colombian President Iván Duque had prepared for and will oversee incursion into Venezuela.

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Oct 6, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: October 6, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Heraldo Venezolano, a news aggregating website originally registered in the United States, garnered the most engagement on Facebook on reports of the Maduro regime’s receipt of a shipment of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine on October 2, 2020.

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Sep 29, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: September 29, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Following a visit to the Latin America region by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Nicolás Maduro’s attacks directed at the secretary and also at current Colombian President Iván Duque gained traction on social media, with an article from dubious website Al Punto receiving the most engagement on Facebook, in particular via a post by a Colombian influencer.

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Sep 24, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: September 22, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Investigators from the United Nations (UN) published a report on September 16, 2020, with evidence of “unlawful executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and torture” in Venezuela that have taken place since 2014.

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Sep 15, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: September 15, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

After the Kremlin announced that Sputnik V – the Russian-funded vaccine for COVID‑19 – would be disseminated in Latin America during phase three trials, accounts aligned with the Maduro regime were the most engaged-with on Twitter promoting “Sputnik V.”

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Sep 8, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: September 08, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Accounts aligned with the Maduro regime pushed #MasCaprilesMenosGuaido (More Capriles, less Guaidó) to trend as a means of influencing the Twitter conversation after Henrique Capriles and Juan Guaidó traded accusations around the upcoming parliamentary elections. #MasCaprilesMenosGuaido trended on September 3 and September 4, however, most of the mentions (tweets, retweets, and replies) have seemingly since been deleted or removed.

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Sep 2, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: September 01, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Twitter users greeted an announcement of a pardon for the Maduro regime’s political opponents with skepticism on August 31, 2020. An analysis of over 60,000 posts made up to 7:30 p.m. (Caracas time) on August 31 showed that the most retweeted posts were critical of the move, which was regarded as illegitimate and insufficient.

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Aug 26, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: August 25, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

On August 20, 2020, Google suspended three YouTube channels belonging to Maduro regime-funded media outlet VTV and the Gmail account associated with them. The three channels had amassed over 408,100 subscribers and posted almost 69,000 videos by the time they were suspended. The same day, Google also suspended two YouTube channels for Cuban TV programs, but they were available again by August 21.

Disinformation Venezuela