An attempt to influence the Ecuadorian election with a fake video allegedly showing left-wing guerrillas endorsing one of the candidates was thwarted by a bird in the ground and a crane ornithologist.
In the video, which was shared on social media before the first round of elections on Sunday, three masked and armed men stood in front of the red and black flag of the ELN – the largest remaining guerrilla force in Colombia – and expressed their support for the left-wing candidate Andrés Arauz.
A caption at the foot of the screen describes the area as the “Colombian jungle”, but a shrill whistle from somewhere in the bush. gave away the match.
“I immediately recognized the whistle and knew that the video could not be filmed in Colombia,” said Manuel Sánchez, an ornithologist and bird guide. he has identified the bird cage as a pale brown tinamou – which is not from Colombia.
‘Tinamous are quite primitive birds. They live on the forest floor and do not sing; they have short, bending whistles, ”Sánchez said. “It was just luck that this particular species lives in a very small and rare dry forest ecosystem in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru.” Although the ELN previously operated in northern Ecuador, there is no record of activity in those ecosystem areas.
Spelling mistakes, strange accents and improbable weapons further undermined the authenticity of the video, which came to light after Colombian weekly Semana claimed it had discovered documents showing ELN’s support for Arauz. The ELN denied the claim and rejected the video.
In recent years, organizations like Bellingcat have mobilized citizen journalists and volunteer experts to verify or refute online videos. Although the Colombian military has previously used ornithologists to track down hostages from audio recordings, it is the first time such a process has been used to cut off false guerrillas’ wings.
Sánchez hopes that the attention his own tweets have brought will draw international attention to the plight of the pale brown tinamou. “The Tumbesian dry forest we share with Peru is one of the most endangered ecosystems in the Americas, due to the growth of the shrimp industry, agriculture and roads,” he said.
Ecuador will hold a run-off vote in April.