Chavismo uses disinformation in Venezuela to attack and discredit the opposition: what are the most common strategies?

Eliminate the Armed Forces and several police forces Venezuelain addition to privatizing the Venezuelan State, is what is read in a message written on a blackboard behind the back of Maria Corina MachadoEverything looks real until, when the real images of the moment go viral, those attending the event remember only two elements that contrast with the photographs and videos circulated: the photo of María Corina Machado and the blackboard, but blank.

The images, which turned out to be a montage, were released by the operational strategic commander of the Venezuelan Armed ForcesDomingo Hernández Lárez. In X, he wrote: “There will be no shortage of those who try to take advantage of difficult situations to maintain this effort to restore capitalism, neoliberalism, to destroy the Homeland. No, they will not be able to, in the face of this circumstance of new difficulties – of whatever magnitude – the response of all patriots, revolutionaries, those of us who feel the Homeland even in our guts, as Augusto Mijares would say, is unity, struggle, battle and victory. Today we have a Homeland! And whatever happens, in any circumstance, we will continue to have a Homeland. Hugo Chávez Supreme and eternal Commander of the Bolivarian Revolution.”

In fact, the NGO and the journalistic project Cazadores de Fakenews compared the images and concluded that those disseminated by the strategic commander of the FANB were a montage.

“María Corina Machado did not give a talk about privatizing state companies and public policies. The video was manipulated and is being used to expand the narrative against the opposition leader and her alleged policies of privatization of goods and services,” the organization wrote in X.

Fake News Hunters adds that “the manipulated excerpt corresponds to a video recorded at the meeting that Machado held, together with presidential candidate Edmundo González, with the young people of the Institute of Political and Social Studies Red Forma on June 15.”

EL TIEMPO attended the event on July 15. At no point was anything written on the board nor did Machado speak about eliminating the FANB or privatizing the State.

Disinformation as a campaign tool for Chavismo

A few days ago, a survey by the firm Meganalisis was published. The results are not at all favorable to Chavismo. Edmundo González has 68.4 percent of voting intention compared to 11.3 percent for Nicolás Maduro.

“The poll numbers go up and down, but Edmundo González wins in all of them, so Chavismo uses many mechanisms, including misinformation,” professor and political analyst Carlos Zambrano told this newspaper.

“The poll numbers go up and down, but Edmundo González always wins, so Chavismo uses many mechanisms, including misinformation.”

This is not the first time that an episode like this has occurred. On August 1 of last year, former presidential candidate Luis Ratti posted a video on his social networks with the following message: “I am concerned about this image on social networks. It seems that he uses fentanyl, as if he passed through Los Angeles or Philadelphia first.”

Ratti was referring to María Corina Machado. The video showed the opposition member in a strange attitude. However, the alleged video was from 2018 when a group of supporters of the government attacked the opposition member while she was touring the city of Upata, Bolívar state.

In addition, the video was manipulated with Artificial Intelligence. The NGO Cazadores de Fake News searched for a screenshot of the video and was able to confirm that it was a manipulated photo.

In another recent episode, it was broadcast An image of Machado holding a US flag with messages suggesting the Vente Venezuela leader is an agent of the US governmentThe photo was also manipulated.

Half of the Venezuelan population believes there is a disinformation campaign

According to a study by Equilibrium CenDE, a Venezuelan think tank, by the end of 2023, 64 percent of the population believed that there were strategies of disinformation and news manipulation.

The team presented a study on access to information in the country. The data showed that 78 percent of respondents believed that the government of Nicolás Maduro was behind the strategy. 35 percent believed that it was the responsibility of the opposition and 29 percent believed that Russia, China and Cuba were behind it.

Another fact is that 76 percent of citizens do not recognize a medium that they trust and 15 percent do not trust any.

According to Espacio Público’s 2024 report, at least 400 media outlets have been closed in 20 years as a result of government asphyxiation. Because of this, Venezuelans have more difficulties in getting information and most do so through social networks..

Ana Maria Rodriguez Brazon – Weather correspondent – Caracas