Old video of World Cup celebrations in Argentina falsely shared as Venezuelan election protests in 2024

Published on August 8, 2024 at 04:22
3 min read
By Camila GONZALEZ, AFP Thailand, AFP Chile
Translation and adaptation Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE

A video showing huge crowds celebrating Argentina winning the World Cup has resurfaced in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed massive protests in Venezuela against the disputed reelection of President Nicolas Maduro in July 2024. The video has circulated since December 2022 when millions of Argentines crammed the streets of Buenos Aires to bask in the glory of a first world title in 36 years.

"Caracas, capital city of Venezuela," read part of the Thai-language caption to a Facebook video posted on August 1, 2024.

The video, which was shared on a page with more than 7,000 followers, shows an elevated view of roads and highways packed with people.

The caption went on to say: "Venezuelans protest to expel illegitimate government. Thousands and thousands of people protest the election results after Maduro cheated."

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on August 5, 2024

The video circulated after Venezuela was plunged into a political crisis after President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of the country's presidential election on July 28 -- a result that defied pre-election polls and drew global criticism (archived link).

The United States and the European Union demanded Venezuelan authorities release detailed voting data, with top US diplomat Antony Blinken saying there was "overwhelming evidence" that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won the election.

The governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico urged an "impartial verification" of the result in a joint statement, also calling for Caracas to publish voting data broken down by polling stations.

Thousands of people flooded the streets of several neighbourhoods of Caracas to protest the victory claimed by Maduro, and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado called for protests "in every city" to denounce the disputed reelection (archived link).

The same clip was shared alongside similar claims elsewhere on Facebook here and here, as well as on X in other languages including English, Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese.

But the clip in fact shows crowds in Argentina, after its national team won the World Cup in 2022.

World Cup celebrations

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the video led to the same clip shared on the verified ESPN FC YouTube channel on December 21, 2022 (archived link).

Its description says it shows "4 MILLION people in the streets of Argentina" and credits the footage to an X account that posted the same clip a day earlier (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison between the falsely shared clip (left) and the video posted on YouTube in December 2022 (right):

Screenshot comparison between the falsely shared clip (left) and the video posted on YouTube in December 2022 (right)

The layout of the roads and the skyline visible in the video correspond with the intersection of Avenida 9 de Julio and Autopista 25 de Mayo in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires (archived link).

Below is a comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and Google Maps imagery of the intersection (right), with matching elements highlighted by AFP:

Comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and Google Maps imagery of the intersection (right)

Millions of Argentines crammed the streets of Buenos Aires to celebrate the national team's first World Cup triumph in 36 years (archived links here and here).

AFP has debunked other misinformation surrounding the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election here and here.

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