The Mexican peso is enduring a “black Monday.” The currency’s losses against the dollar deepened and fell to 18 pesos at the beginning of the week, its weakest level since last March. The strength of the U.S. dollar, uncertainty over the conflict in the Middle East and rising global interest rates have hit the currency, which after reaching 18 pesos per dollar closed the session at 17.95 pesos per dollar, according to Bank of Mexico data, representing a 1.8% depreciation from the previous close. The peso’s performance has been undermined by monetary policy decisions from the central banks of Mexico and the U.S. The Federal Reserve raised its interest rate by 25 basis points, placing it in a range between 3.75% and 4%, its first increase since July 2023. That decision strengthened the dollar, while the Bank of Mexico kept its rate at 6.5%. The issue matters because a narrower gap between the two rates reduces the appeal of the carry trade, a strategy that involves borrowing in countries with very low interest rates to invest in countries where rates are higher and yields greater.

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A federal appeals court will examine Tuesday whether a federal judge can proceed with a criminal contempt investigation into the Trump administration related to the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador in March 2025.

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A military contingent blocked the bridge over Lake Maracaibo on Monday in the Venezuelan oil capital to prevent a workers’ protest from closing the road. In Guayana, in front of the state-run basic industries, workers erected a barricade to demand better wages. In Caracas, a group protested for the release of political prisoners after news emerged of a death in the women’s prison run by the National Institute for Women’s Guidance (INOF). Over the weekend people took to the streets to demand a date for elections and the return of opposition leader María Corina Machado. Almost every night during a sweltering September, in inland cities such as Maracay, Guanare, Barinas, Valencia, and Maracaibo, people have expressed on the streets their frustration over blackouts that are increasingly prolonged, lasting up to 10 or 12 hours a day.

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Polls are unfavorable for Texas attorney general and Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton. With 38 days until the midterm elections, some Republican politicians have all but conceded the Lone Star seat and remain haunted by the belief that the safer bet would have been to give the nomination to veteran congressman John Cornyn. Paxton isn’t gaining traction, not even after President Donald Trump himself urged voters at the unprecedented Republican convention in September in Dallas — his “Trumpapalooza” — to imagine that on November 3 they would be choosing him instead of the controversial Southern politician.

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Water service failed in at least 300,000 Atlanta households on July 27. Taps ran, but only a trickle came out. After receiving several consumer alerts, the water company found that a pumping station had stopped functioning, affecting that city and others in the state. The loss of pressure led authorities to advise boiling water before drinking it to reduce the risk of contamination, sparking some panic among the population. It was not a technical fault: everything points to it having been orchestrated from a computer almost 7,000 miles away, in Iran.

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