After the U.S. military captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in early January 2026 and took him to New York City to stand trial on narco-terrorism charges, a video circulated online purportedly showing people in Venezuela celebrating the end of Maduro's rule.
Nick Shirley — a YouTuber whose video about an alleged day care "fraud scandal" in Minnesota Snopes analyzed in late December 2025 — posted the footage to X on Jan. 3, the day Maduro was seized. The clip showed several people wrapped in the Latin American nation's flag, cheering and dancing (archived). Shirley's post read (details in brackets ours):
Wait a minute the MSM [mainstream media] media lied to us again? The people of Venezuela actually didn't like being ruled by a narco-terrorist?
World Cup style celebrations are ERUPTING all across Venezuela atm [at the moment], congratulations to the people of Venezuela! Que Dios te bendiga! [May God bless you!]
(X user Nick Shirley)
The claim and video appeared elsewhere on X and Instagram, while several Snopes readers searched the website for clarity on where it was recorded.
In short, the footage did not show people in Venezuela. While it was correct that the scene depicted people celebrating Maduro's capture, it was recorded in Doral, Florida, west of downtown Miami. As such, the video was miscaptioned.
The video's origin
The video originated from TikTok user @Ricardo28 (archived), who appeared to stream it live, meaning it was no longer available to view on the user's profile. The account's bio showed only two emoji flags, one for the U.S. and the other for Venezuela. Snopes contacted the user for confirmation they were responsible for recording the gathering but the person managing the account declined to comment.
Key landmarks in the clip showed the scene did not occur in Venezuela, but in Doral, Florida, sometimes referred to as "Little Venezuela" due to its large population of exiled Venezuelans (the
The video showed the celebration took place at a Chevron gasoline station. Examining all three existing Chevron stations in Doral revealed that it occurred at the 10191 N.W. 58th St. station located by a Venezuelan restaurant named El Arepazo. (Arepas are savory cornmeal pancakes typical of Venezuela and Colombia.)
The eatery's Instagram profile featured numerous posts about the get-together.
In the image below, Snopes matched two details in the video to the Google Maps street view of the station: pump No. 12 and the two-story house by the palm trees.
(Google Maps and Tiktok user @Ricardo28)
Turning the view around on Google Maps revealed El Arepazo restaurant on the left of the image.
(Google Maps)
Local news media outlets also reported on the celebration at that station on Jan. 3, 2026, the day the U.S. captured Maduro. For example, news channel WPLG said "hundreds of Venezuelans" gathered to celebrate there, while The Miami Herald published a video recorded at the same location later in the day.
Snopes contacted an expert to ask about the likelihood of people in Venezuela openly celebrating Maduro's capture. "It is indeed a very dangerous moment to be celebrating in Caracas," Luis Duno-Gottberg, a professor of Latin American studies at Rice University said via email, referencing Venezuela's capital. "In fact, streets are somehow quiet."
Several reputable news media outlets, including the BBC and Fortune, reported on the fear of retribution making it difficult, if not impossible, to celebrate the U.S. seizing Maduro. Several other reports, including in the Financial Times, the BBC and Bloomberg, said Venezuela's security forces were shutting down dissent and arresting journalists in the aftermath of the seizure.
For further reading, Snopes debunked another video purportedly showing Venezuelans celebrating Maduro's capture. In this instance, artificial intelligence software generated the footage.