As the U.S. Navy repeatedly struck Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean following the orders of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who deemed the boats to belong to "narco-terrorists" without producing evidence of this claim, rumors multiplied that Trump was preparing to invade and set off a regime change in the Latin American nation.
The dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro followed the totalitarian regime of Hugo Chávez. Both purported to defend "socialism" and have long antagonized the U.S. Rampant corruption and poverty have also been the source of many rumors, true and false, and fueled mass emigration. Yet the country's oil reserves, the largest in the world, have attracted foreign interests for decades.
Here are 13 claims about Venezuela Snopes has investigated over the years.
