The captured authoritarian leader flashed a symbol that many took to be a defiant peace sign. Loyal lawmakers repeated the gesture at a session in Caracas.

Nicolás Maduro's arrival in New York after capture saw him flash a defiant gesture. His loyalists in Venezuela's National Assembly mirrored this sign, interpreting it as a symbol of victory. This act ...

A two-finger 'V' gesture has long been used to signal victory in a wartime context, and was popularized by Winston Churchill during World War II.