The writing is on the wall for Europe in terms of this coming winter – It's going to get ugly.  With natural gas imports from Russia cut by 80% through Nord Stream 1 along with the majority of oil shipments, the EU is going to be scrambling for whatever fuel sources they can find to supply electricity and heating through the coming winter.  Two sources that were originally suggested as alternatives were Iran and Venezuela.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia is ready to provide the “most advanced types of weapons” to its allied nations, including the socialist regimes in Latin America, in a move to expand Russia’s arms trade with its allies.

A message reportedly sent out from the cartel threatened violence to urge the government to free captured members.

“Be warned. As of Friday at 10 p.m. through Sunday at 3 a.m., we’re going to create mayhem so the [expletive] government frees our people. We’re the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, we don’t want to hurt good people, but it’s best they don’t go outside; we’re going to attack anyone we see on the streets these days,” the cartel announced, according to KSWB-TV and other outlets.

 Mexico’s president has begun exploring plans to sidestep congress to hand formal control of the National Guard to the army, a move that could extend the military’s control over policing in a country with high levels of violence.

That has raised concerns because President Andrés Manuel López Obrador won approval for creating the force in 2019 by pledging in the constitution that it would be under nominal civilian control and that the army would be off the streets by 2024.

Leftist Gustavo Petro was inaugurated as Colombia’s new president on August 7, ushering in what will likely be an unprecedented political swing for what is a perennially right-wing government. In his first address, Petro mentioned many important issues that face Colombia including climate change, poverty, education and, notably, the so-called ‘War on Drugs.’ 

The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana has requested all American government employees to shelter in place until further notice after cartel violence erupted in parts of northern Mexico. 

The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana warned the public and government employees to avoid the area and seek shelter as violence and unrest erupted.

The U.S. Consulate tweeted that vehicles are being set ablaze, roadblocks are being set up, and there is heavy police activity occurring in Tijuana, Mexicali, Rosarito, Ensenada, and Tecate.

At this time, all U.S. government employees have been instructed to shelter in place.

Chile’s National Geology and Mining Service, Sernageomin, ordered a temporary suspension of activities at Lundin Mining’s (TSX: LUN) Alcaparrosa mine following the opening of a giant sinkhole above the underground operation.

The sinkhole, which emerged on July 30, is 50 meters in diameter and 200 meters deep.

Jair Bolsonaro’s rise to the presidency of Brazil was unimaginable just a few years before he took power. Long considered a pariah and a disgrace, the former army captain and congressman occupied a fringe position on Brazil’s extreme right during the 14-year reign of Brazil’s Workers’ Party (PT). Yet just two years after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, which many consider a legislative coup, Bolsonaro seized the country’s most powerful office.