Source: RT en Español
What it’s about: Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro condemned a meeting set up by the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during the 2018 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. In a press release, the Venezuelan government assures that the U.S.’s intentions were to “increase the diplomatic and financial aggression towards the Venezuelan people.” The statement continues, “with this blatant international conspiracy, the U.S. government continues to show its excessive and inhumane obsession against Venezuela.”
Why it’s false: There is little substance in the article; a majority of its content is quotes from the Venezuelan government statement. By failing to correct the statements made by the Venezuelan government, RT helps the Venezuelan government spread misinformation and downplays the root causes of the Venezuelan crisis. The author of the publication doesn’t question why the Maduro regime would refer to this meeting as a “sign of aggression” or mention the humanitarian crisis in the country, which is the reason for the individual targeted sanctions by the U.S. on Venezuelan officials.