LatinNews Daily - 20 January 2026

*Venezuelan opposition deputy Henrique Capriles Radonski, who leads a small contingent of opposition lawmakers in the government-controlled national assembly, has called for transparency on the oil export deal reached between President Delcy Rodríguez and the US government of President Donald Trump. “We want to know how far the energy issue goes, the new energy agreements that are being planned in the country,” Capriles said at a press conference, calling for assurances that “Venezuelan oil is not going to be sold at a discount”. He also called for more information on Rodríguez’s planned reform of the hydrocarbon law, which is a key demand of the US, and urged the government to use oil revenue to increase the minimum wage and provide a US$150 monthly payment to pensioners. Capriles was expelled from the main opposition coalition Plataforma Unitaria Democrática (PUD), led by María Corina Machado, last year, after he rejected the PUD’s boycott of the May legislative and regional elections.