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US Corporate Media Caught Circulating Fake AI Video of Celebrating Venezuelans // Jimmy Dore
Jimmy Dore | Trusted Newsmaker
Mainstream Media Pushes AI-Generated Venezuela Videos as Reality, Fueling War Propaganda
As tensions escalate around Venezuela, major media outlets and viral social accounts have circulated videos purportedly showing Venezuelans celebrating in the streets following U.S. military action. The problem is that many of these videos are not real. Independent journalists and analysts have identified multiple clips as AI-generated fabrications, yet they continue to spread widely across mainstream and social media platforms, shaping public perception during a critical geopolitical moment.
The fabricated videos typically depict large crowds waving flags, cheering, and welcoming regime change. However, close inspection reveals glaring inconsistencies. The flags often do not match official Venezuelan designs, crowd movements appear unnaturally synchronized, and visual artifacts common to generative AI are visible throughout the footage. Despite these red flags, the clips have been amplified by prominent commentators and outlets without verification.
Real Footage Tells a Very Different Story
Authentic videos emerging from Venezuela paint a starkly different picture. Rather than mass celebrations, real footage shows a polarized society under stress, with significant portions of the population rallying in support of the government or closing ranks in response to foreign attack. The contrast between genuine recordings and AI-generated content has raised alarms among independent reporters who warn that misinformation is being weaponized to manufacture consent for intervention.
Journalists familiar with Venezuela note that while opposition to President Nicolás Maduro exists, there is also a substantial base that supports the Chavista movement. This nationalist political bloc, often mislabeled exclusively as socialist or communist, centers on maintaining national control over resources and improving conditions for the country’s poor and working-class majority. That reality is absent from the viral AI portrayals.
Sanctions, Migration, and the Missing Context
For years, Venezuela has been portrayed internationally as a failed state collapsing under its own ideology. What is often omitted is the role of U.S. sanctions in accelerating economic hardship. After poverty levels declined during the early years of the Chávez government, sanctions were reimposed and intensified, contributing to economic contraction and renewed migration. Those migrants later became political talking points in the United States, disconnected from the policies that helped drive them north.
Despite sanctions, Venezuela’s oil production and segments of its economy have shown signs of recovery in recent years. These developments complicate the simplistic narrative of a country uniformly desperate for external salvation. The spread of AI-generated celebration videos erases this nuance, replacing it with a clean, emotionally satisfying storyline that aligns neatly with interventionist goals.
Information Warfare in the Social Media Age
Critics argue that the viral spread of fake videos represents a new phase of information warfare. Where previous administrations relied on selective reporting or staged photo opportunities, generative AI now allows for the rapid creation of emotionally potent imagery at scale. Once released, these visuals can dominate feeds, drown out verified reporting, and influence millions before corrections ever reach the audience.
Compounding the issue is the role of influencer-driven media ecosystems. Analysts note that for many people under 40, social platforms have replaced traditional news. When highly followed accounts share fabricated videos with confidence, they function as de facto corporate media, often without the editorial standards or accountability traditionally associated with newsrooms.
Polarization Inside and Outside Venezuela
Inside Venezuela, foreign military pressure has produced a “closing of ranks” effect seen in other countries under attack. Even political opponents of Maduro who favor liberal or social-democratic reforms have expressed opposition to sanctions and bombing, viewing external intervention as a threat to national sovereignty. At the same time, some Venezuelan expatriate communities abroad have openly celebrated U.S. strikes, often far removed from the reality of living under bombardment.
This divide has fueled anger across Latin America, where many see the events in Venezuela as part of a broader pattern of U.S. intervention. Threats toward Cuba, Mexico, and Colombia, combined with silence or approval from European leaders, have reinforced perceptions that international norms are applied selectively, depending on who holds power.
The Stakes of Letting Fake Media Shape Reality
The circulation of AI-generated war propaganda carries serious consequences. When false imagery is used to justify violence, the result is not just misinformation, but real-world harm. Civilians bear the cost of decisions made under distorted perceptions, while accountability becomes harder to demand once public opinion has been engineered through deception.
As generative technology becomes more sophisticated, the line between reality and fabrication will only blur further. The Venezuela case offers a warning: without rigorous verification and skepticism, media consumers risk becoming unwitting participants in manufactured narratives designed to sell war as liberation and fiction as fact.
