AI generated video (screenshot) (via X)
Following deadly U.S. attack on Venezuela and kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro, netizens are trying to fabricate support for the attack I found a friend in generative AI.
Since the kidnappings, people in the West have been fiercely debating who should control the discourse on military operations. By many accounts, those most affected by the attack – Venezuelans living and working in the country – are adamantly opposed to the attack, with thousands rallying in protests in many Venezuelan cities. (The death toll from U.S. airstrikes now stands at 80, including soldiers and civilians, but this number is likely to rise as the situation settles.)
Although the attacks are still too recent to have accurate polling data on sentiment in the country, a November survey found that 86% of Venezuelans want Maduro to remain head of state to resolve the country's economic woes. Just 8% supported the far-right opposition party backed by US President Donald Trump. Even many Venezuelans who oppose President Maduro oppose the U.S. invasion to oust him.
But if you ask Trump supporters in the US, they'll tell you that Venezuelans are actually excited about this invasion. Their evidence is good old AI slop.
In a post that has been viewed more than 5 million times, the X (formerly Twitter) account Wall Street Apes shared a minute-long video of people believed to be Venezuelan nationals weeping tears of joy after being attacked. Of course, as anyone familiar with Gen AI's visual language will quickly realize, this video is a collection of low-quality AI clips.
“Our people are crying out for freedom. Thank you America for freeing us,” the video's AI narrator shouts. “Thank you, my hero, Donald Trump.”
A US-run account with around 140,000 followers replied under the video: “I'm so jealous.” “I want the same freedom and the same joy for Iran and the Iranian people.”
Reacting to the mega-viral post, critics warned that AI's precipitous decline ushered in a horrifying new era of misinformation.
“The American Empire's war propaganda has become even more sophisticated,” geopolitical analyst Ben Norton wrote. “There is no doubt that the U.S. government will seek to use AI to justify even more imperialist wars of aggression.”
Sure enough, more AI-generated misinformation surfaced after this attack, spread by conservative politicians like Vince Lago, the mayor of Coral Gables, Florida. In some cases, AI-generated images of Maduro in various U.S. detention centers began circulating within hours of the kidnapping and long before the real images were released by the Trump administration.
As Mexican political journalist José Luis Granados Ceja put it, AI's precipitous decline is the result of a decades-long effort by the U.S. government and media to fabricate Western public consent for intervention in the oil-rich South American nation.
“In 2002, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was briefly ousted in what came to be called 'the world's first media coup,' paved by lies told on television,” Ceja wrote in response to AI propaganda. “It would not be surprising to see new technologies and fake AI videos used for similar purposes in 2025.”
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