Images of ousted Venezuelan president and wife arriving in New York are AI-generated
- Published on January 15, 2026 at 09:12
- Updated on January 15, 2026 at 09:42
- 3 min read
- By AFP Thailand
US forces captured former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a bombing raid on January 3 and brought them to face trial for drug charges in New York, but images of the couple being escorted from a plane circulating on social media are in fact AI-generated. The images made with Google's AI-tool do not correspond to genuine photos published in news reports of Maduro's arrival in the United States.
Two images -- one showing the ousted president and his wife in handcuffs, surrounded by soldiers and a supposed US Air Force aircraft in the background, while the other only shows Maduro being escorted -- were shared in a Burmese-language Facebook post on January 3, 2026.
"On January 3, 2026, Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela who was seized in a raid by the U.S. special operations unit Delta Force, stands as one of the most controversial yet compelling leaders in modern global politics," part of the post reads.
The images emerged in posts across Facebook and TikTok in Burmese and English after Maduro and his wife were captured and flown to New York to face drugs and weapons charges following a bombing raid on Venezuela's capital Caracas on January 3 (archived link).
The couple pleaded not guilty to the charges, with another hearing set for March (archived link).
After Maduro's ouster, US President Donald Trump said he was content to let his former deputy Delcy Rodriguez take over -- as long as she gave the United States access to Venezuelan oil (archived link).
The circulating images, however, were fabricated with AI.
A reverse image search on Google found the picture was labelled as "Made with Google AI" in its "About this image" feature.
A subsequent analysis conducted with Google's SynthID tool -- launched in May 2025 to detect AI-generated content -- identified with a "Very High" degree of confidence that the images were created with the help of its AI tools (archived link).
A close inspection of the pictures also shows inconsistencies typical of AI-generated images, with the features of the soldiers escorting Maduro appearing blurred, while the aircraft's fuselage appears to be missing in the second image.
The images are also inconsistent with news photos of Maduro's arrival in New York.
ABC news released a photo of Maduro's arrival in New York, in which he is seen wearing a blue shirt and being escorted by Drug Enforcement Administrator Terry Cole and other federal agents (archived link).
AFP also published photos showing a different type of aircraft transported Maduro to New York (archived link).
AFP has debunked other misinformation related to Venezuela's crisis here.
Updates to spell out United States on first mentionJanuary 15, 2026 Updates to spell out United States on first mention
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