Fact Check: No, This Photo of Maduro's Arrest by US Troops Is Not Real

January 7, 2026 | 11:35 am

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A photo purportedly showing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Moros' arrest by the United States has circulated again on Instagram [archive], Facebook, and Twitter.

Unlike the previous photo, this time Maduro is wearing a white jacket with bloodstains on the chest. He is flanked by two heavily armed military officers. This photo circulated after the United States raid on Venezuela that also included the capture of Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, on Saturday, January 3, 2026.

However, is the photo of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Moros captured by the United States true?

FACT CHECK

Tempo verified the content using artificial intelligence (AI) content detection and compared it with information from credible sources. The results showed that the circulating photo was also artificially generated, even though the United States did indeed kidnap the Venezuelan President through a military operation on January 3, 2026.

During manual analysis of the photo, Tempo found several irregularities. First, the length of some of the fingers of the soldiers flanking Maduro is disproportionate. Second, part of the soldier's hand is fused with Maduro's handcuffed hands. Third, the face of the soldier on the left is unnaturally smooth.

These kinds of irregularities are often found in synthetic content generated by AI technology.

This photo of Maduro differs from the sweater he wears in the three verified photos Tempo collected from various sources. The first photo was uploaded by United States President Donald Trump to his Truth Social account after kidnapping Maduro on January 3, 2026.

In the photo, Maduro is wearing a gray sweater and sweatpants, with his eyes and ears covered.

The second photo, published by the BBC, shows Maduro just landing at Stewart International Airport, about 97 kilometers northwest of New York City. In the photo, Maduro is seen wearing a blue sweater with a black hood.

Third, when Maduro arrived at the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office, he was wearing a black jacket with a hood, similar to the one seen by the same citizen.

Three photos of Maduro after the kidnapping can be seen in the following image:

Analysis by the Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU) of the Trusted Information Alliance (TIA) in India indicates that the photo of Maduro in a white jacket with blood stains was artificially created. This conclusion was reached after the DAU analyzed it with two AI detection tools.

The AI or NOT imitation intelligence detection tool yielded a 63 percent probability that the content was artificially created.

Meanwhile, using the Is It AI tool, the probability that the content is AI is 94 percent.

CONCLUSION

Tempo's verification concluded that the photo of the Venezuelan President, wearing a blood-stained white jacket, being captured by US military forces is a false claim. The photo was artificially generated.

TEMPO FACT CHECK TEAM

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