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.

Disinformation 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

Content

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Mar 17, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: March 17, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

The confirmation of the first cases of the novel coronavirus in Venezuela led to the politicization of the outbreak and the spread of claims that were not supported by evidence.

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Mar 10, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: March 10, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Nicolás Maduro and his Vice President Delcy Rodríguez promoted the hashtag #LasSancionesSonUnCrimen (“Sanctions are a crime”) on March 6, 2020, when it also reached the trending topics of the country on Twitter. The hashtag was part of a broader campaign launched by the regime that same day to protest U.S. sanctions imposed on Venezuela.

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Mar 3, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: March 3, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Fringe outlets that reported on an attack on a Juan Guaidó rally in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, received more engagement on social media than traditional and trustworthy outlets that wrote about the same topic.

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Feb 25, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: February 25, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

William Castillo, as vice minister of international communications, is one of the most prominent authorities in the Maduro regime’s Ministry of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs. Castillo has attacked journalists online for allegedly publishing “fake news,” despite the fact that he has repeatedly published false claims on Twitter.

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Feb 18, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: February 18, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

A group of Twitter accounts linked to Venezuelan right-wing movements, such as Rumbo Libertad and Derecha Ciudadana, pushed hashtags not only against Nicolás Maduro but also against Juan Guaidó on Twitter. In some tweets, the group asked for military intervention and misleadingly claimed that Guaidó supported the Maduro regime.

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Feb 11, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: February 11, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Rumors claiming that Juan Guaidó had given Donald Trump permission to lead a military intervention in Venezuela started to circulate while Guaidó was on an international tour to Europe and the Western Hemisphere. The claims amassed substantial engagement on social media, including a YouTube video that received more than 100,000 views.

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Feb 4, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: February 4, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

A Twitter network previously reported by the DFRLab used random text, including snippets of poems, song lyrics, articles, and Wikipedia entries, to amplify anti-Guaidó hashtags on Twitter. The random text appeared to be unrelated to Guaidó and to the hashtags. The network’s actions suggest they engaged in inauthentic behavior to make the hashtags seem more popular than they were in an attempt to influence or manipulate the trending topics on Twitter.

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Jan 28, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: January 28, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Accusations of corruption against Juan Guaidó and other National Assembly members resurfaced in the form of a misleading claim regarding the misappropriation of foreign funds that was pushed by pro-Maduro regime blogs and media outlets from Venezuela and regime-allied countries.

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Jan 21, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: January 21, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

On January 11, Juan Guaidó, president of the National Assembly who is recognized by more than 50 countries as interim president of Venezuela, announced his intention to appoint a presidential commission to oversee the restructuring of the Maduro regime-backed broadcaster Telesur. The announcement started the debate about the future of the media outlet. The regime mounted a significant response on social and traditional media, including on Telesur itself.

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Jan 14, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: January 14, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Twitter suspended dozens of accounts connected to the Maduro regime on January 7, 2020, including the official accounts of the Ministerio del Poder Popular de Petróleo (the Ministry of People’s Power for Petroleum), the Minister of the Interior, the Central Bank of Venezuela, and the Bolivarian Army of Venezuela.

Disinformation Venezuela