By Luis Manuel Aguana
Within the ocean of information to which social media subjects us, a very particular piece of content came to my attention: a short clip of an interview with Donald Trump conducted by journalist Sean Hannity of Fox News. From this clip, they extracted a specific question about what the US president thought regarding the possibility of elections in Venezuela in the near future. Since it was a clip from an apparently much longer interview without any references, it was nearly impossible to verify whether it wasn't a fabrication or "fake news" of a Donald Trump interview. Given the importance of what the US president supposedly said, I undertook the task of investigating further to verify the accuracy of this information.
After a lengthy online search (something I highly recommend to anyone who doesn't want to fall into the trap of "fake news"), I managed to locate the complete video and transcript of that important interview with Sean Hannity. Indeed, the interview was conducted on January 8, 2026, 5 days after the removal of Nicolás Maduro Moros and Cilia Flores (see video at the time of the question in question, in https://vimeo.com/1152750920?fl=pl&fe=cm#t=18m16s and complete transcription in Senate Democrats, TRANSCRIPT: President Trump Speaks with Sean Hannity at the White House, 1.08.26, https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/trump-transcripts/transcript-president-trump-speaks-with-sean-hannity-at-the-white-house-10826).
But now that we have verified that the interview took place and that what the U.S. President said is true, let us examine in detail the question in question and President Trump's response:
“Hannity: And that, that will get into the issue of Minneapolis going on right now. But back to this one issue, do you foresee a Venezuela that will have free and fair elections? And I would have little doubt that the opposition would probably win handily if they were free and if they were fair.
Trump: Yeah, I do see that, and I think that's happening, but before we do that, it's gonna take a while to do. We have to rebuild the country. They couldn't have an election. They wouldn't even know how to have an election right now. The country's become third world, and they wouldn't know how to have an election right now. Uh, we're gonna rebuild the oil and the oil infrastructure. We'll be in charge of it. It's gonna do great, and make a lot of money, and, uh, we're gonna take it from there, but we're gonna rebuild the country. And we'll, ultimately, you're gonna have elections.” (emphasis added).
This response—which I believe has gone largely unnoticed in Venezuela, or has been deliberately disregarded over these past months by every political faction clamoring for “elections now!”—presents a pre-electoral scenario entirely different from the one local politicians have been painting for us regarding the possibility of “free and fair” elections, as Sean Hannity frames it in that interview.
Yet the mere fact that Trump believes—and publicly states—that Venezuelans would neither “know how to have an election right now” nor even be capable of doing so leaves us in a very poor standing with the White House. Based on that very argument, the administration intends to first “rebuild the oil sector and its infrastructure” before restoring sovereignty to the Venezuelan people—as clearly indicated by the remark: “And we'll, ultimately, you're gonna have elections.”. In the meantime, we will remain at the mercy of the worst elements of what remains of the Nicolás Maduro Moros regime. Just imagine how long that could last…
But Trump is not far from the truth. Rather than sticking with the current electoral system—which has hijacked our freedoms through fraud—it would be preferable to build a completely new one from scratch.
And much like the oil sector, that undertaking will take the necessary time. However—unlike the steps taken to restore the infrastructure of our primary industry, aided by a “fast-track” Hydrocarbons Law passed by Jorge Rodríguez’s National Assembly—we Venezuelans have not seen even the faintest sign of movement from anyone—neither from Delcy Rodríguez’s regime nor from the opposition—to fundamentally overhaul our electoral system, which has been proven to be rotten and fraudulent.
Yet, unlike the oil sector—which is of such keen interest to the Americans—it is not the U.S. that will be interested in seeing this reconstruction of the electoral system carried out with any urgency. Consequently, I do not expect to see Marco Rubio or Laura Dogu pressuring Delcy Rodríguez—and especially her brother—to take such action anytime soon; for instance, by changing electoral laws to dismantle the rotten automated system that has guaranteed them nearly 30 years in power, let alone making even a token gesture toward replacing the officials at the National Electoral Council (CNE)—starting with “the man with the napkin.” After all, simply appointing new rectors to the CNE—without simultaneously replacing the incumbent regime and the National Assembly that appoints them—would merely result in a precise repetition of exactly what we witnessed on July 28, 2024.
The change in the system for electing leaders must be driven by us, the Venezuelan people. But have we seen our opposition politicians even open their mouths to demand it? No. They only call for “elections now!” with the same system that has robbed them of election after election since 2004. But changing the electoral system isn't so simple to dismantle…
And that is precisely the topic of a series of videos about the gravity of the electoral system in Venezuela within the context of the current political situation, following the removal of Nicolás Maduro Moros. These videos were started by three Venezuelans who have been concerned for many years about the transparency of our electoral system, and were produced with the unconditional help of the extraordinary journalist Maibort Petit.
Iñaki Gainzaraín, Guillermo Salas, and I began exploring last week on Maibort Petit's Sin Filtros channel the depth of this very serious problem, which is by no means trivial, and which covers multiple dimensions that are not being explored by those who are demanding immediate elections. I invite you to our first program entitled “SOVEREIGN ELECTIONS IN VENEZUELA? FRAUD and the Capture of the State” (see in Spanish Maibort Petit, Sin Filtros in https://www.youtube.com/live/QIxjzaQ-Xy4?si=DQvFtdtflAR7oXwB).
In this inaugural program, we conclude by formalizing an obvious proposal: The National Electoral Council must be placed under intervention prior to any future election, in order to guarantee authentic elections in Venezuela. An Electoral System Intervention Board must be appointed—vested with sufficient and extraordinary powers—to intervene in all bodies and technical components that bear upon the electoral system currently in place in Venezuela.
In subsequent episodes, we will delve deeper into the rationale behind this public proposal—addressed to those currently governing the country following Venezuela’s military and political capitulation on January 3rd—which aligns with President Trump’s own assessment: that we Venezuelans are currently incapable of conducting elections that guarantee the transfer of our sovereignty; consequently, we are running woefully behind in this arduous yet absolutely necessary undertaking.
Caracas, April 6, 2026
Blog: TIC’s & Derechos Humanos, https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/
Email:
luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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