Hello and welcome to the intelligence on Economist Radio. I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Venezuela's state oil firm, Perevesa, is a well-known caricature of mismanagement.

But a look at the rest of Latin America's state-run energy giants reveals a similarly sickly picture,

corruption, ineptitude, politicization, and hands in the cookie jar.

And a new generation of filmmakers is cropping up in an unlikely place,

Siberia. Movies tapping into the identity of the Yakut, a local ethnic group, are drawing

notice at international festivals. But making films there is hard going. Temperatures can hit

50 below zero.

First up, though.

Yesterday, a long-simmering political crisis in Italy came to a head.

The Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte offered his resignation to the President. He was pushed into quitting after his rebellious right-wing deputy, Mateo Salvini called for a vote of no confidence.

In a speech to the Senate, Mr. Conte accused Mr. Salvini of political opportunism.

He said Mr. Salvini's Northern League Party had showed grave contempt for the government by forcing him to end his 14-month tenure.

The Prime Minister had attempted to steer an unruly coalition of Mr. Salvini's right-wing league

and the anti-establishment five-star movement.

For his part, Mr. Salvini was defiant, saying the right outcome would be a general election

so the Italian people could judge.

It's unclear whether Salvini's gamble will pay off, but if it does, it could mean that Italy gets a far-right populist government that would be its most uncompromisingly hard-right government

since Mussolini.

Matt Steinglass is our Europe correspondent, and it could put Italy's budget at risk at a moment when it's already under heavy pressure

from the European Commission.

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