/SCI/ Southern Cross Intelligence -

🇺🇸💥 — The U.S. Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, spoke about combating Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) on the ground in Latin America. Hegseth said these organizations would be targeted in the same way ISIS and Al-Qaeda are targeted in the Middle East.

🇦🇷 YPF Eyes Year-End Pipeline FID as Vaca Muerta Natural Gas Expansion Advances YPF is pushing forward with Argentina’s gas buildout, with a potential final investment decision by year-end tied to an LNG project and broader infrastructure expansion. The move is linked to Vaca Muerta development, the San Matías pipeline expansion, and plans to increase LNG capacity as the company works toward a stronger export profile. The immediate market read is straightforward: upstream growth in Vaca Muerta only translates into export revenue if midstream capacity and LNG infrastructure advance in parallel. A year-end FID target puts the focus on execution risk and timing, but it also signals that Argentina is still trying to convert abundant shale gas resources into scalable export flows rather than remaining constrained by transport bottlenecks and seasonal domestic demand swings. For the market, this is another sign that Argentina is positioning Vaca Muerta as a future gas and LNG export platform, with pipeline decisions now becoming as important as resource quality. 🔎 Source @songofoil

🇦🇷🕊 — At the age of 68, Lionel Messi's father, Jorge Messi, has passed away. The man who shaped a football legend, the one who took his son to Spain at just 13 years old so that his son could later change the history of football forever, is no longer with us. Rest in peace 🕊

🇦🇷❌🇧🇷🇧🇷🤡 — Argentina's Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno described Brazil's decision to downgrade bilateral diplomatic relations as "regrettable" following Javier Milei's attacks against Lula, but said that Argentina will not respond to the withdrawal of the Brazilian ambassador from Buenos Aires 😎 The foreign minister also reiterated the Casa Rosada's support for Flávio Bolsonaro, stating that the region is changing and that he "hopes this will also happen in Brazil." "Argentina regrets Brazil's unilateral decision. This is not the way forward. We are always willing to maintain relations and, on our part, there will be no diplomatic reaction in response to Brazil. To fight, two idiots are needed, and currently only one country is counting on that position."

🇧🇷🤡🇧🇷❌🇦🇷 — The Brazilian government, under the direction of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), has decided not to send Ambassador Julio Bitelli back to Argentina and will downgrade diplomatic relations with Javier Milei's government to the level of chargés d'affaires, further isolating Brazil in the Global South. ➡️ The decision was communicated to Argentina's ambassador in Brasília, Daniel Raimondi, who received a formal note of protest following three new instances in which the Argentine president made insulting remarks after being summoned to provide explanations on July 26. 💥 According to diplomatic sources, Milei's statements demonstrate that there is no willingness to restore a proper relationship with the Brazilian government.

🇦🇷❌🇧🇷⚖️👨‍⚖🤡 — Argentine President Javier Milei said that Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes imprisons political opponents and claimed that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is a thief: "I was referring to the judge who imprisons people simply because they do not share his ideology!"

🇰🇷 South Korea to begin importing Argentine crude in 2027, Seoul says South Korea plans to begin importing crude oil from Argentina next year, according to a senior presidential official cited on Friday, as Seoul moves to diversify supply away from the Middle East. The headline points to a 2027 start for Argentine barrels into South Korea, marking a new long-haul crude trade route between East Asia and South America. The immediate significance is strategic rather than volumetric at this stage. South Korea is one of Asia’s major crude importers and remains heavily exposed to Middle Eastern supply, so even a modest Argentine stream would widen refinery optionality and reduce concentration risk. For Argentina, any entry into the South Korean market would signal expanding export reach beyond traditional buyers and reinforce the commercial relevance of Atlantic Basin crude in Asia when freight economics and crude quality align. The market signal is clear: Asian buyers are still actively building supply diversification into their crude procurement mix, even when that means pulling barrels from farther afield. 🔎 Source @songofoil

🇧🇷⁉️🌪 — URGENT: A significantly to potentially violent tornado followed by very large hail just impacted areas of Girua, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil ➡️ Visually, this is by far the most impressive tornado ever recorded in Brazil. With some assistance from a…

🇵🇪 One day after being inaugurated as Peru’s first female president, Keiko Fujimori has declared a state of exception, dramatically expanding the powers of the military and security services. Drop Site contributor Joseph Bouchard writes that the move makes Peru the latest Latin American country to impose full or restricted emergency rule in the name of fighting narco-trafficking, a rationale Washington has repeatedly used to justify intervention and expanded security cooperation across the region. Fujimori’s decision follows years of pressure from the US and its right-wing Latin American allies for a harsher crackdown on crime, despite Peru’s comparatively low homicide and violent crime rates. Lima, Callao, border regions, and the VRAEM are expected to become the main focus of the operations. She took office after winning by a razor-thin margin, following three consecutive presidential defeats, in a deeply polarized country where resistance to her radical agenda is already mounting. The state of exception could give her broad latitude to suppress dissent while limiting the ability of Peru’s powerful but divided Congress to rein her in. The measure also extends the authority of the armed forces and security apparatus, which experts say are already among the country’s dominant political actors. Under President Dina Boluarte, the military was deployed against protesters and used to carry out massacres, including at the National University of San Marcos in Lima. Fujimori, who was married to an American, holds US citizenship, and studied at American universities, has also promised to confront China’s growing influence in Peru while granting preferential diplomatic treatment to Washington. She is expected to join Trump’s Shield of the Americas, a political-military coalition that has become a pillar of support for US-aligned governments across Latin America. One of her first diplomatic appointments was Carlos Espá as foreign minister. Espá previously worked at the US Embassy in Lima. Fujimori is also expected to expand military operations against suspected drug cartels and potentially radical left-wing groups. She has already placed the military, rather than the police, in charge of the fight against crime. 🔗 Dropsite

🇦🇷❌ — President Javier Milei signed a decree (DNU) establishing that any foreigner who promotes or incites hatred, discrimination, or violence against Argentina, the Argentine people, or its citizens may be denied entry to the country or expelled from its territory. The decree also clarifies that this prohibition extends to any foreign national who desecrates Argentina’s national symbols. The government concluded the statement by reaffirming that “the defense of the nation, its citizens, and its symbols is non-negotiable; anyone who attacks Argentina is not welcome in the country.”

#BREAKING 🇺🇸🇦🇷⚠️💣 — Bomb threat at the United States Embassy in Argentina

#BREAKING 🇺🇸🇦🇷⚠️💣 — Bomb threat at the United States Embassy in Argentina

🇧🇷⁉️🌪 — URGENT: A significantly to potentially violent tornado followed by very large hail just impacted areas of Girua, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil ➡️ Visually, this is by far the most impressive tornado ever recorded in Brazil. With some assistance from a nudger cell, a supercell that had previously produced prolific hail generated a tornado between Giruá and Senador Salgado Filho.