An U.S.-Iran truce, a Venezuela strike, and contested Latin American elections

Off Leash update 15 June 2026

COMING UP THIS WEEK •France is hosting the first G7 summit since the Iran war began today through Wednesday. Pres. Trump is attending, as are the leaders of the other six G7 countries and guest nations like India, Ukraine, and the UAE. •DRC Mining Week takes place Wednesday through Friday in Lubumbashi. •The U.S. and China celebrate two very different holidays on Friday: the U.S. celebrates Juneteenth, while China celebrates the annual Dragon Boat Festival. Financial markets will be closed in both countries in observance. •Sunday is Father's Day in the U.S. and election day in Colombia, where Abelardo de la Espriella faces Iván Cepeda in a run-off for the presidency. De la Espriella - a right-wing businessman who styles himself after Pres. Trump - leads Cepeda - a left-leaning continuity candidate - in polls, but not by much.

COMMODITY AND COIN MARKET PRICES •Aluminum: $3,535/ton •Antimony (global avg.): $34,935/ton •Bitcoin: $65,603 •Cobalt: $56,290/ton •Copper: $13,698/ton •Ethereum: $1,718 •Gold: $4,327/toz •Lead: $1,966/ton •Natural Gas (Nymex): $3.05/MMbtu •WTI Crude Oil (Nymex): $80.39/barrel •Zinc: $3,584/ton

IRAN •The U.S. and Iran agreed to a "framework" for a peace deal that would reportedly lift both of their blockades on the Strait of Hormuz and end their conflict without addressing Iran's nuclear ambitions. •The truce allows 60 days for further negotiations on the thornier issues they still dispute, like whether Iran will be allowed to keep parts of its nuclear program and whether the ceasefire extends to Lebanon. That's a short timeline: it took around 10 times as long to hammer out Iran's previous nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. •Pres. Trump told the NYT that if a new final deal can't be closed within the new framework's much shorter time horizon, "the U.S. will resume attacks on Iran and become the guardian of the Middle East, receiving 20% of the region’s profits." •Both sides seem happy to have reached an agreement, but they may be celebrating prematurely. The new deal isn't public yet and won't be signed until Friday, and American and Iranian officials are giving vastly different accounts of its terms, raising doubts as to whether they've actually agreed to anything consequential. •For example, Iranian officials claimed that the U.S. had already agreed to release $25 billion in frozen Iranian assets, while Pres. Trump portrayed the release of frozen funds as a carrot that Iran would only earn if it behaved well. •Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif - who was involved in mediating the agreement - suggested the draft still has powerful critics who he accused of waging an "incessant misinformation campaign...to sabotage the peace deal."

VENEZUELA •A U.S. airstrike in Venezuela's Bolívar state killed Héctor Guerrero Flores (aka Niño Guerrero), the head of the Tren de Aragua gang that the U.S. has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. •Pres. Trump said the operation was "coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well." Venezuelan officials confirmed it had been a "joint operation." •It was certainly more effective than Venezuela's previous government's efforts against Guerrero. Under Nicolas Maduro's regime, corrupt prison guards took bribes to let Guerrero escape - twice - and turned a blind eye to plush improvements Guerrero made to Tocorón Prison to make his stay there more comfortable, including a zoo, nightclub, betting parlor, and swimming pool.

PERU •Peru's presidential election is still too close to confidently call more than a week after polls closed. •Right-wing Keiko Fujimori has a razor-thin lead over left-wing Roberto Sanchez, who alleged there had been voting irregularities and asked for a recount.

SWITZERLAND •Swiss voters rejected a proposed ballot measure to implement the world's first-ever population cap. •Unusually for an immigration-related question, pre-referendum polling estimated the actual result - 55% against vs. 45% in favor - almost perfectly. As anticipated, the measure enjoyed stronger support in rural areas than in cities and border areas.

UK •The UK's Prime Minister Starmer said his government will join Australia and several other countries in introducing a social media ban for children under 16. •Starmer's office followed proper British procedure and conducted a lengthy consultation process before deciding to act. It found that 90% of the 116,000 parents who voluntarily responded to its survey supported a ban, and 85% felt social media brings more risks than benefits. •The ban is slated to start in early 2027.