Shadows Over Caracas: Unraveling the Web of Economic Warfare in Venezuela

• 78.46% of the misinformation content detected circulated on X (formerly Twitter)
• The misinformation trend had its highest peak in April of this year

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By Medianalysis

In the midst of the political and pre-electoral context, a disinformation strategy was implemented in Venezuela on social networks such as Joined.

Between April 1 and May 31, 2024, the Cotejo.info team used the digital tool Periscopio, developed by the Argentine media Chequeado, to monitor content related to this topic on the X and Facebook platforms.

On April 17 of this year, the United States announced the end of the relief of sanctions against Venezuela that had been implemented as part of an incentive for President Nicolás Maduro to comply with the Barbados Agreements, agreed with the Venezuelan opposition for the celebration. of democratic and competitive elections, in October 2023.

In this context, the government of Nicolás Maduro promoted the hashtag #BidenLivantaElBloqueoYa on social networks to bring together political and misleading content about the recent cessation of sanctions relief and reinforce old narratives.

At least 85 Contents circulated on social networks about the withdrawal of the relief of sanctions by the United States against Venezuela in the #BidenLivantaElBloqueoYa, according to the database prepared with the support of the El Periscopio tool, between April and May of this year.

Among the contents detected through the analyzed label, at least 65 (76.47%) were identified as misleading or false. The misinformation trend had its highest peak in the month of April with 34 falsified content, followed by May with 31.

This verification team also managed to identify two of the narratives promoted: “the economic blockade produced Venezuelan migration” and “sanctions prevent Venezuela’s access to medicine and food.”

During the investigation it was also evident that these contents were promoted by the profiles of pro-government media and television programs such as TeleSurTV, El Mazo Dando and El Universal.

At least 6 accounts of public institutions dedicated to replicating the disinformation narrative to generate trend and virality were also detected between April and May 2024.

To learn more details about this research, promoted by Chequeado, as part of the project “Strengthening capabilities for detecting and analyzing regional disinformation trends in Latin America”just click here