Mendocino County Today: Wednesday 1/7/2026

Chance Rain | Hendy Woods Report | 175 & 128 Open | PVP Runneth Over | Navarro High | Near-Fatal Stabbing | Valley Fog | County Notes | Fallen Leaves | Budget Tricks | Sheriff Hires | Thomas Dow | Robert Cliver | Top-Heavy Radio | Orange Horizon | Yesterday's Catch | Drum Circle | Adults Needed | Human Spirit | Buthead Lake | Fifty-Fifty | Christmas Leftovers | Netflix AI | Disillusionment | Frozen Woman | Three Portraits | Yetti Love | Disneyland Fistfights | Forest Landscape | Sordid Affair | CIA Days | To Men | El Helicoide | Lead Stories | Regime Change | Mad Hatter | Economic War | Bedtime

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LIGHT RAIN and mountain snow continue through Wednesday night. High pressure is expected to build in late this week bringing dry conditions to Northwest California. Sneaker waves are expected along the coast by Wednesday transitioning into large surf by Thursday. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A partly cloudy 47F on the coast this Wednesday morning. Maybe a sprinkle today then a shower tonight then clear skies until further notice ! Maybe we can finally get caught up on many re-roofs that having been waiting for so long ?

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KATHY BAILEY:

Hendy Woods State Park Is Now Open, but caution is required. The road to Day Use is currently flooded but you can park at the Visitor Center and walk down if you want to.

Most trails are open. Pay attention to wind predictions and avoid being hit by a "widow maker." There are So Many trees hung up across each other.

We are happy to report that no ancient trees toppled in this event! So yay! The Visitor Center did suffer significant damage but no displays were harmed due to quick action by park maintenance staff.

The river photos are from Sunday. It rose even further by Monday evening.

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CALTRANS TRAFFIC UPDATES

Route 175 is OPEN at Hopland (PM 0-0.7) in Mendocino County due to flooding. [3:39 p.m. Jan. 5]

Route 128 is OPEN in Mendocino County from the Route 1 junction to west of Flynn Creek Road near Navarro (post miles 0-12). [12:45 p.m. Jan. 6]

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JIM ARMSTRONG:

The recent fairly heavy rainfall has introduced conditions that are going to be a big part of the "Two Basin Solution." The East Fork of the Russian River at Highway 20 was running at 6000 CFS yesterday filling Lake Mendocino. Lake Pillsbury was over the top of the dam and the Eel at Van Arsdale was running at running at 9,000 CFS. Can any proponents of dam removal here tell us what will happen under these conditions under the plan? This is when Sonoma and Marin are supposed to be saved.

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TERESE BRENDLEN: The highest I've ever seen the Navarro! On 1/5/2026 at 4 pm.

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A PLAN TO TAKE A DOG ENDS IN NEAR-FATAL STABBING IN UKIAH, POLICE SAY

Owner taken to Adventist in critical condition

by Elise Cox

The following account is taken directly from a Ukiah Police Department press release.

What police say began as a plan to steal a black-and-white dog spiraled into a brutal attack that left a Ukiah man fighting for his life on New Year’s Eve.

According to the Ukiah Police Department, two 23-year-old men lured a 33-year-old Ukiah resident behind a South State Street building on December 31 with the intent of taking his black and white canine — then allegedly attacked him with a sword and a machete when he resisted.

Officers were dispatched at approximately 3:45 p.m. to 995 South State Street in Ukiah for a reported stabbing. When patrol officers arrived, they found the victim bleeding heavily from from his neck, chest, and hand. He was incoherent and unable to explain what happened, police said.

The victim was transported to Adventist Health of Ukiah in extremely critical condition, with concerns he might not survive.

Police initially had few leads. The attack occurred behind the building, and officers were unable to locate any witnesses. Detectives were called to the scene while patrol officers canvassed nearby businesses for surveillance footage.

Security video from surrounding properties showed the victim walking behind the building with two men and his dog shortly before the attack. Minutes later, the footage shows the victim staggering back towards the roadway, motioning for help.

The assailants fled in different directions, one carrying the victim’s dog over his shoulder.

Detectives used the video to identify one suspect as Adam Monte Smith, a 23-year-old Ukiah resident. Investigators said Smith appeared to have shaved his head in an attempt to alter his appearance. When contacted at his resident, Smith admitted that he and another man had planned to take the dog and give it to his girlfriend. The second man was later identified as Pete Matthew Gonzalez, also 23 also a Ukiah resident.

During the confrontation, Smith allegedly drew a large sword while Gonzalez pulled out a machete. Police say Smith stabbed the victim in the chest, and as the men struggled over the sword, Gonzalez struck the victim in the neck with the machete.

The suspects then took the victim’s backpack and dog and fled.

Gonzalez was later located and arrested without incident. Police said he was found in possession of methamphetamine at the time of his arrest.

Detectives executed a search warrant at a downtown Ukiah residence, where they recovered the stolen dog and clothing police say Smith was wearing during the attack, which was stained with blood.

Both men were booked into the Mendocino County Jail and police said the investigation is ongoing. Smith and Gonzalez were arraigned today.

Smith was charged with six felonies: attempted murder, assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, second degree robbery, and use of a weapon/controlled substance in commission of a felony (three counts).

Gonzalez was charged with seven felonies: attempted murder, assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, second degree robbery, transportation of a controlled substance, and use of a weapon/controlled substance in commission of a felony (three counts)

(Mendolocal.news)

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TWO MORE MASTER CRIMINALS

At approximately 3:45 p.m. on 12/31/25 Ukiah Police Department Patrol Officers responded to 995 South State Street for a report of a stabbing. Upon their arrival officers found a 33-year-old male bleeding profusely from the neck, chest, and hand. The male victim, who was incoherent and unable to tell officers what had happened, was transported by emergency medical personnel to Adventist Health of Ukiah. The initial report from the trauma department was that the victim was in extremely critical condition and might not survive his injuries.

UPD Patrol Officers spoke with several people in the area and determined that the attack had occurred behind the building and no one had witnessed the incident or had any information on the suspects. UPD Detectives were called to the scene while patrol officers began canvasing the area for any security cameras that might have recorded any portion of the incident. Officers located several security cameras at nearby businesses that recorded two males, and the victim with a canine, walk behind the building shortly before the incident was reported. A short time later the victim could be seen staggering out towards the road motioning for help, while the suspects fled in different directions. One of the suspects was carrying the victim’s black and white canine over his shoulder when he fled the scene

UPD Detectives were able to use the security video to develop several leads, and a further investigation into one of the suspect’s social media accounts led the detectives to believe that Adam Smith, a 23-year-old Ukiah resident was the male seen leaving the scene with the victim’s canine.

UPD Detectives contacted Smith at his residence and immediately noticed that he had shaved his head in what he would later admit was an attempt to alter his appearance. Smith was forthcoming with the detectives, and admitted that he and the other suspect, who was later identified as Pete Gonzales, 24, of Ukiah, had lured the victim behind the building with the intention of taking the canine from him.

The canine did not belong to either Smith or Gonzales, and they had been attempting to take the canine to give it to Smith’s girlfriend.

During the confrontation over the canine Smith drew a large sword from a sheath, and Gonzales pulled out a machete. Smith stabbed the victim in the chest, and as the two wrestled over the sword Gonzales struck the victim in the back of the neck with the machete. Smith and Gonzales then took the victim’s backpack and canine and fled the area.

UPD Detectives were able to positively identify the other suspect as Pete Gonzales, who was located later in the day and taken into custody without incident. Upon his arrest Gonzales was also found in possession of methamphetamine.

Detectives executed a search warrant at a residence in downtown Ukiah and located the stolen canine as well as the bloody clothing Smith was wearing during the attack. Smith and Gonzales were booked into the Mendocino County Jail for charges of attempted murder), mayhem, conspiracy to commit a crime, and robbery. Gonzales was also booked for possession of a controlled substance.

The Ukiah Police Department remains committed to keeping the residents of Ukiah safe and preventing violent crime while ridding our community of dangerous weapons and drugs. For updates about crime in your neighborhood, residents can sign up for telephone, cell phone, and email notifications by clicking the Nixle link on our website: www.ukiahpolice.com.

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COUNTY NOTES

by Mark Scaramella

HOUSEKEEPING: The Supervisors modified the item requiring consent items to be placed on the consent calendar two weeks in advance by changing the word “required” to “requested.” They also the proposal that would put items on the consent calendar when there was a question about putting it on consent or the regular discussion calendar.

AFTER HALF AN HOUR OF POINTLESS DISCUSSION, the Board re-appointed First District Supervisor Madeline Cline to the Inland Water and Power Commission. Lame duck Supervisor John Haschak and proposed that Supervisor Maureen Mulheren be appointed because Cline had voted against the Democrats 3-2 vote in favor of not objecting to the Potter Valley dam removal a couple months back. Cline is much better versed on the subject and the project is in her district.

SUPERVISOR TED WILLIAMS spent his entire “Supervisors report” whining about the County’s financial reporting, and browbeating his colleagues to declare that improving financial reporting as the Board’s #1 priority for 2026. As we have noted before, neither Williams nor his colleagues have commented on the monthly budget vs. actual report now being provided by the CEO’s office as a buried link in the CEO report which gives a departmental budget snapshot broken down by line item. Williams has been whining about perceived County financial reporting shortfalls since being elected back in 2019. In his early years his complaints were aimed at County Auditor (and later Auditor/Tax Collector) Chamise Cubbison, instead of where they should have been aimed: CEO Darcie Antle. At first Cubbison responded by asking Williams what reports he wanted, what reports were other counties getting, etc. Williams simply repeated himself, never providing a single example. He then merged his complaints with former Supervisor Glenn McGourty which ended up with the Board suspending Cubbison without pay on the flimsiest of accusations from DA David Eyster. After Cubbison left, Williams stopped complaining about financial reporting while Deputy CEO Sara Pierce was appointed Acting Auditor/Tax Collector. But after Cubbison was exonerated, Williams returned to his high horse complaining about financial reporting but no longer mentioning Cubbison. Williams has not identified a single particular problem or missing report. One gets the impression that Williams thinks that somehow “improving our software” will magically provide him with simplified push-button yes or no reporting options from which the all-knowing Supervisor can grandly pick. But as usual Williams refuses to actually dig into the county’s various departmental budgets or even review and comment on the CEO’s existing report. Unfortunately, Williams’ colleagues never bring up the existing report either. On Tuesday, Williams’ colleagues would only agree that financial reporting will be a subject of the Board’s January workshops, now scheduled for January 13, 14, and 19 when the Board plans to discuss the reently completed State Audit report.

RATHER THAN constantly whining about financial reporting, Williams should simply put the existing budget vs. actual report on the Board’s main agenda for discussion and public comment. And he should explain exactly why that existing report (or individual departmental budgets) don’t meet his lofty expectations. As far as priorities for 2026 go, as confirmed by the State Auditor report, it’s quite obvious that the County’s number one priority should be collecting taxes due.

CLAY EUBANK (AV EMS Officer/Ambulance Manager) reports: “The county is attempting to find alternative ways to get us the [annual ambulance supplementary] funding rather than through the general fund. My guess is that we will not receive it next year as the county claims to have a significant shortfall.”

Mark Scaramella Notes: Mr. Eubank is referring to the annual $200k ambulance allocation that has been used to supplement the County’s three struggling volunteer ambulance services in the unincorporated inland areas, Covelo, Laytonville and Anderson Valley with approximatly $67k per service. Mr. Eubank’s impression that the County “claims” to have a significant shortfall is correct, but as the recent state audit report shows, the County has failed to collect over $30 million of taxes due. Not only is the County’s failure to prioritize tax collection affecting its own operations, but the failure cuts into funding for schools and emergency services as well.

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FALL HAS FALLEN (Dora Briley)

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KEITH LOWERY:

In my opinion…

There is a saying that history repeats itself. In the case of the current CEO just compare notes of the previous CEO and you have the full template as, “What not to do”.

CEO Angelo manipulated the BOS for years and moved money around like a Ponzi scheme.

If things were as good as CEO Angelo praised herself for at the time of her retirement then why did things start to fall apart so quickly? The difference is that the current CEO doesn’t have the same skill set in playing the game, “Hide the ball”!

2016/2017 the BOS was informed that there were fiscal issues of at least $12 million shortfall in a complicated transition of Mental Health Services. 2023/2024 the County CEO’s office states that there’s a shortfall of approx $12 million in Mendocino’s budget. This just so happens to be a time of wage negotiations with SEIU and other bargaining units.

Fast forward to 2025 and the County says it has found the funds that balances the budget somewhere in between $12 and $16 million?

In my opinion if most of the County departments were able to have their own actual budget and the CEO’s office was unable to manipulate those budgets like using funds from Social Services meant to provide services to the public rather than reduce services and supply those funds to general fund departments or inflate the overall budget to make it look like the CEO is managing a balanced budget.

The dollars that come into departments like Social Services should be used specifically for services that those dollars were originally intended for and not for some position in an underfunded department like Environmental Health or for the purpose for covering costs of internal County Counsel positions or for the outside Counsel the County uses like Liebert, Cassidy and Whitmore.

The Child Welfare division has somewhere between 25% to 35% staffing shortage and yet the Social Services Director is not able to utilize those funds because of the manipulation of County finances.

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THE MENDOCINO COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE has started 2026 with two new promising careers and a promotion!

Sheriff Kendall on Monday introduced two new Public Safety Dispatchers and our new Coroner Investigative Technician at a Sheriff’s Office ceremony. Dispatchers Kelley Cloud and Catherine Lairson will undergo intensive training for the next several months. Coroner Investigative Technician Megan Larkin will be applying her years of experience at the Sheriff’s Office to assist with Coroner’s cases.

Please help us welcome Kelley, Catherine and Megan as they take on their new duties.

If you are interested in a rewarding career with the Sheriff’s Office, click the link below for more information.

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/mendocinoca

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THOMAS MICHAEL DOW

Thomas Michael Dow died December 28th, 2025. He fought bravely to end, always with a smile on his face and continuing to make those around him laugh. Throughout his last few days, he was surrounded by his loved ones at home, with lots of stories, laughter, tears, and of course, several bowls of his favorite ice cream. Tom was born in Kearney, Nebraska on March 2, 1950, to Ralph and Sue Dow. The family moved to Greeley in 1962, where he grew up and graduated from Greeley West High School in 1968. He graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in 1972. He is survived by his adored wife, Gina Marie Lindsey. He was predeceased by his brothers Steve, Tim, Jack, and Jim Dow, and his stepson Jeremy Lindsey. Tom had a long and storied career, stretching from the Arctic of Alaska to Washington DC. After graduating from UNC, he moved to Alaska. What started as a summer trip turned into years; new friendships, the launch of a successful career, and most importantly, meeting the love of his life, Gina Marie at a Chamber Event, whom he later married in Port Ludlow, WA on August 22nd, 1999. He worked as a tour guide in Prudhoe Bay when NANA (Northwest Arctic Native Association) acquired the company he was working for. He spent 18 years with NANA, culminating in his role as the VP for Northern Slope Operations and Tourism. This led to participation in the Alaska Visitors Association where he served on the board, including a stint as the Board President in 1988 – the year of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. He joined Princess Tours as the VP of Hotel Operations and moved to Seattle with Gina Marie and her son Jeremy. He was the VP of Public Affairs when Carnival Cruise Corp and Princess entered a business combination in 2003. With Carnival, he opened the first Carnival Public Affairs office in Washington DC in 2004, serving as the VP of Public Affairs. In this role, he worked with local and federal governments, tourism organizations, and environmental groups to find mutually acceptable operational practices. He retired in 2017, but continued consulting for 5 years. After retiring from corporate life, Tom transitioned to full-time olive ranching in Northern California, reporting directly to the CEO of J-Olivanti, Gina Marie. Here, he prided himself on his irrigation and PTL (postage, trash, & laundry) duties. While he originally thought the olive harvest would ‘turn friends into acquaintances’, to his and Gina Marie’s delight, he was wrong, as the harvest turned into an annual celebration, bringing together friends and family from all over the country. Tom also took a focused interest in the local public radio station – KZYX, serving on the Board of Directors and as a temporary General Manager for a time. Tom & Gina Marie sold the ranch in 2020 and moved to Tucson, AZ. Barney the Basset quickly became a neighborhood ambassador opening a path for Tom & Gina Marie to form many great friendships. Everyone that knew Tom loved him. He was kind, genuine, caring, humble, hilariously funny, and above all, he made everyone comfortable. He had a true gift of gab, and could talk and relate to anyone, anywhere. This authenticity had a huge impact on his career and friendships. Tom was known for frequently communicating unique aphorisms that became part of his persona and subsequently family lore: Basic life advice: “You’re wondering how to make an impact? RAISE YOUR HAND & PUT YOUR SHOULDER TO THE WHEEL!” During family gatherings: “What can I do to make your life even better than it already is?” Upon regretful confessions of friends or family: “Find something else to worry about!” Regarding family disputes: “This is not a negotiation; it’s information….” Tom will be dearly missed. In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to the Boys To Men organization in Tom’s name: https://btmtucson.com/

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ROBERT CLIVER

Robert Paul Cliver was born in Ukiah, California on February 6, 1978, and passed away November 6, 2025, at home in Clearlake, California.

“Muffins” was born and raised in Ukiah with his sisters and cousins. He had an adventurous and exciting childhood filled with love and laughter.

He spent time living in Washington with his best friend and returned to California where he spent time with his many beloved friends, family, and favorite cousin. He loved bringing joy and laughter to others. He was a pure element of nature who loved to hike, fish, and create chaos.

He would want everyone to celebrate his life and remember his humor and joy in their memories. The family hopes on his birthday, wherever you are, you raise your glass and have a laugh in his memory to celebrate his life.

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ALL THINGS CONSIDERED?

by Marco McClean

KZYX is still not paying the airpeople, which it could have been doing all along, and is still swimming in enough donor-class money to pay its CEO five times KNYO's entire yearly budget even without the annual six-figure government CPB shot in the arm KZYX has been literally taking for granted for decades. Radio is cheap. The main expense and hurdle of FM radio is getting the FM-broadcast-band transmitter and the license to switch it on, and for KZYX that was accomplished almost four decades ago.

Radio is a microphone and a transmitter. Remote studio systems are cheap and you can put a working pro-quality-sound broadcast booth anywhere there's internet access and do live radio on any station in the world that will let you. I'm sitting at a rig right now that I made for around $100 thirteen years ago. And I have another one up in Albion at my day-job work place, that I use to do my show when I'm near there. I think half the airpeople at KNYO have built and use their own home studios to do live shows. If you'd like to do it yourself for KNYO or KZYX or wherever, let me know; I'll give you some simple useful tips, and links to the parts you need. It's easy and fun and, see above, cheap.

But speaking of tests, I took the ten-minute MindCrowd.org test that Sally wrote about last week. Despite worrying that I was doing poorly during the word-pair memory test, I did really well, but I scored low on the attention twitch-test. I told that to Juanita and she said, "That's because you're neurodivergent." I said, "I am?" She said, "Yes."

Since then, I thought about it some more and investigated; it turns out that my keyboard is laggy. It's fine for typing, and I like it because of the high-visibility yellow keys for dim light, but this kind of keyboard gives an unusual delay (up to 30 milliseconds) between when you press a key and when the computer registers the key-press. I tried to use my computer keyboard as a musical instrument controller years ago, and gave up because of latency. I'll get a pile of different keyboards from the thrift store and try again, and I'll try the MindCrowd.org twitch-test again.

And, Robert, if by national organization folding you mean National Public Radio, I have always thought of NPR's relationship to real, local, public radio as like something between Cardassia's relationship to Bajor and the Vatican's relationship to a local Catholic church. Maybe more like the church thing, of the two analogies, with the best Catholic churches and organizations providing shelter, comfort, food, creative services and protection against oppression, and the worst presiding over Magdalene laundries. There are over a thousand radio stations playing NPR shows. KZYX is one of 250 fully-NPR-colonized radio stations. NPR warmed itself at a fire of /350 million dollars/ last year. If it folds, it'll be its own stupid smug fault, and it can fuck off back to Cardassia with its tail between its legs.

If you mean the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, that was paid for by a continuous Niagara of tax money; it folded immediately when the spigot was shut off upstream. It is already no more.

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, January 6, 2026

ALLEN ANDERSON, 82, Willits. Assault with firearm, grossly negligent discharge.

JERRY BAILEY, 48, Willits. Failure to appear.

SHERONE BARBER, 56, Ukiah. Burglary.

JEFFREY CARVER, 42, Willits. Controlled substance with two or more pirors, probation revocation.

JOHN CEA, 28, Shirley, New York/Ukiah. Parole violation.

DOMINC FABER, 63, Ukiah. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, parole violation.

JESUS GONZALES, 50, Ukiah. Petty theft with priors, parole violation.

JORDAN LEWIS, 24, Covelo. Burglary, taking vehicle without owner’s consent, controlled substance, failure to appear, resisting.

MALORY MCKINNEY, 38, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. Under influence, paraphernalia.

CHRISTIAN SANCHEZ, 21, Clearlake/Ukiah. DUI with blood-alcohol over 0.15% with priors, suspended license for DUI.

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HEALTH CARE IS EXPENSIVE, AND FIXES AREN’T SIMPLE

Editor:

Hyperbole and misinformation from both political parties about expiring Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits is creating mass confusion. First of all, only about 5%-7% of Americans received enhanced premium tax credits. If you’re on Medicare, employer health plans or didn’t qualify, this does not affect you. Even though all the screaming makes it seem otherwise.

The “Medicare for All” crowd isn’t going to be pleased either. If one thinks “Medicare for All” means free, it does not. When I signed up for Medicare, they clearly advised to budget $8,000 a year for costs beyond what Medicare pays.

The problem is that health care is very expensive. Premiums are rising because of that, and the “affordable” in the Affordable Care Act isn’t really true. Can we fix this? Probably. But the rising cost of health care is real and has to be paid for somehow. It will never happen until Congress actually tries to work together to fix a very big problem. Both sides seem more interested in political points than addressing a difficult and complicated issue.

Now we need folks in Washington to address it like adults instead of acting like children.

Richard Harder

Santa Rosa

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CHECKS THE BOXES

Editor,

Realistically, the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and seizure of President Nicholas Maduro and his wife achieved several short-term objectives for President Donald Trump:

It made his plummeting popularity appear irrelevant to his ability to tyrannize with impunity.

It pumped up the widely deflated morale of Trump’s right-wing base.

It potentially gives the U.S. control of the world’s largest oil reserves (though that calculation reminds us how this plan failed in Iraq and stirred up civil war).

And most importantly to Trump, his “victory” distracts from public anxiety over his connection to Jeffrey Epstein.

We face social chaos, empire collapse and widening wars aided by an obedient U.S. military and Supreme Court.

Can the human spirit rise in collective resistance to the Trump dictatorship’s extinction threat?

Marc Sapir

Berkeley

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BILL KIMBERLIN:

I shot this photo at Skywalker Ranch which was George Lucas's headquarters located on about 5,000 acres in Lucas Valley, Marin County California. George named this, "Lake Ewok" after the characters in, "Return of the Jedi". This name was a tip of the hat to the local Indian group known as the Miwoks.

As I mentioned in my book, "Inside the Star Wars Empire", we used to make a little fun with these names because after you have heard lines like, "Many Bothan's died to bring you this information", about 500 times you start to make jokes at the absurdity of it all. We respected George but we were also under a lot of pressure and that led to mischief.

This was a highly anticipated film and we didn't want to disappoint every little kid in the world, but at the same time we had to set a firecracker under something, so some of us began referring to this as, "Buthead Lake".

As I tried to explain to one of my early editors, who quite rightly questioned what we meant by that, all I could say was, you had to have gone though it to understand it.

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FIFTY-FIFTY

Well, my dandruff is loose
An' my breath is chartreuse
I know I ain't cute
An' my voice is ka-poot

But that's awright people
I'm just crazy enough to sing to you
Any old way

I figure the odds be fifty-fifty
I just might have some thing to say

Ain't gonna sing you no love song
How my heart is all sore
Will not beg your indulgence
'Cause you heard it before

An' that's awright people
I'm just crazy enough to sing to you
Any old way

I figure the odds be fifty-fifty
I just might have some thing to say
Ants in my pants!

I have taken your time
I have sung you my song
Ain't no great revelation
But it wasn't too long

An' that's awright people
I'm just crazy enough to sing to you
Any old way, ha ha!

I figure the odds be fifty-fifty
I just might have some thing to say

— Frank Zappa (1973)

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AI EATING VOICE ACTORS

Editor,

Thanks in large part to you, dear artists and unions and labor and exhibitors and artist reps (and the studios who respect them), the last several decades of Hollywood have provided a living wage for countless professionals and execs and their families, except for "Netflix" which is a disservice to the industry and to children. If you teach kids to kill an industry to keep a paycheck, there is the distinct danger that they might grow up to be Amy's Special Boy or Fazio the Magician.

About the WB sale controversy: after poetry dried up, a lot of AVA readers took to film & TV and supported themselves in all kinds of ways including voice acting.

Not just AVA readers, but also thousands of artists and professionals in the US supported their families and careers working as engineers, sound mixers, producers, writers, directors, and actors on voice acting for Netflix, ballyhooed in the press a few years ago.

But as soon as early AI came along, Netflix quietly replaced the SAG-AFTRA English voice actors for the characters from the popular series "Money Heist" in the spinoff series "Berlin". Those SAG-AFTRA voice actors for those characters were replaced by voice actors outside of the US who were either willing or duped into replacing the SAG-AFTRA voice talent for the characters for Netflix AI experimentation.

Sure, Netflix eventually worked out a deal with ACTRA in Canada for the "Berlin" English voice actor recordings (word of which predictably spread around the industry after the initial actors walked out of the booth when presented with AI lights and cameras pointed at the microphone.)

Then, something else happened: a lot of the Netflix voice acting work disappeared in the US. Take a look at credits at the end of Netflix shows, and speak to the recording studios in the US who were forced to shut down or lay off most of their staff after spending millions to build stages for Netflix specifically to record for them. Or speak to the engineers, sound mixers, writers, directors, and actors who have seen most of the work that had helped keep them and their families afloat between other jobs disappear.

Netflix may have a right to run their business how they please, but their motivations regarding AI and the rest of the industry outside of a handful of VIPs they want to have dinner with seem pretty clear.

And if you're wondering why the work is mostly gone, Netflix employees will tell you about a voice acting exec who says things like "we pay these fucking actors and directors too much money" (referring to anyone in SAG-AFTRA trying to squeeze in a few hours of Netflix voice acting to get health insurance for their family). And based on the social media posts from the AI company credited on "Berlin" (the amount of shots they worked on and their rates), Netflix spent around five million dollars on wildly stupid methodology for unscalable AI voice acting experiments with cameras and lights on this one show simply to spite SAG-AFTRA on the whim of a handful of voice acting execs. And there were more shows voice actors talk about working on like this in Canada for Netflix, so who knows how many millions were spent on comically unscalable AI experiments on multiple shows. Nothing against Canada, everybody's gotta work, but Netflix circumventing SAG-AFTRA to quietly replace working class actors is… yeah. The entire entertainment industry, including big stars and Canadian workers, will eventually be next.

Will the unions stand up to Netflix and how they'll use AI at the next set of negotiations? Forget about voice acting, what about everything else? If Netflix becomes a monopoly, how can they?

Simultaneously, another morally challenged Netflix voice acting exec set up their friend with a Netflix sanctioned Pay-To-Play Netflix voice acting class at one of the last standing LA recording studios for $2000/head to further prey on industry folks (also described as a $2000 "internship" which I dunno sounds illegal in California but I'm not a lawyer.) You better fill some pockets if you want any of the remaining scraps of work.

Netflix senior management either condones or is unaware of some of their execs spending millions of dollars on comically unusable and expensive AI experiments simply to spite the unions, or creating and sanctioning $2000/head Pay-To-Play classes for their friends to profit from.

If Netflix senior management is unaware, it's an example of their lack of institutional control over their own soon-to-be-monopoly. Not a great sign for what will happen to Batman, or the artists who want to write, direct, light, dress, produce or portray him one day.

There's nothing necessarily "wrong" with AI and of course it will be implemented in plenty of ways in all aspects of life including art where it makes sense, but Netflix exec goals of using AI development specifically to harm the unions and labor who create their "content" and crushing labor on a few voice acting execs' whim is a cautionary tale for everyone in the industry, as is other Netflix execs condoning it or setting up their friends to profit from it. Unchecked monopoly kills innovation and shrinks industry.

And the move to achieve these whims by moving work outside of the US is another aspect of this AI cautionary tale to consider for all corners of the industry, including Netflix shareholders and government regulators, regardless of their political persuasion.

Re: the other potential WB buyers, any AVA readers old enough to remember Uncle Rupert sitting in the Fox lot cafeteria eating pizza by himself also remembers that he went to a final cut screening of Avatar and gave it a thumbs up. He was wise enough not to interfere with the film studio and the century of profits that came with it, and I assume those putting tens of billions of dollars into rival WB bids that have to be paid back with profits would agree. Sure, again depending on your political persuasion, if a rival bidder wins WB then a news network might be lost or go heel. But if Netflix wins WB, a century of Hollywood industry and the benefits for artists and professionals and the US economic and soft power that comes with it aren’t likely to ever respawn. James Cameron seems to know what he's talking about, so I'd side with him here.

Maybe Steady Teddy is a nice guy, with “how did I get here?” blaring in his earbuds as he kneels down in the Oval Office to beg politicians to allow him to crush an entire industry via monopoly. Maybe he earnestly believes Netflix won’t eventually gut HBO and turn it over to the algorithm to fuel AI-created "new" content, or that Netflix won’t starve and kill wide release theatrical and the exhibition industry after a few years. Maybe he earnestly believes they won't shut down DC Comics publishing and kill that industry with AI-created digital comics only available on Netflix so they never have to pay creators ever again. Maybe he really thinks broadcasting an awards ceremony and being “raised in a union household” will help him protect everybody as he consolidates his monopoly that even big stars are afraid to speak out against because it’s probably the only place any future paycheck for anyone is ultimately going to come from. Imagine having a legacy as the man who killed Hollywood just to make even more money for himself and a handful of his friends. Who doesn't love Howard, but a different wack packer running Netflix would have been funnier.

Go enjoy movie theater experiences like MARTY SUPREME while you still can, where Kevin O'Leary gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Ted / Milton Rockwell, metaphorically spanking the industry for whatever work will remain. Or go see ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (no, I didn't write Vineland, leave him alone) before Ted and Netflix take credit for it at the Oscars while simultaneously making sure movies like it can never happen again after a few years of their monopoly strangles movie theaters and rival studios. Or just wait until The Sopranos in the Netflix library leads the algorithm to cheaply made knock-offs in Belgium or wherever, and then eventually just to AI-created knock offs.

Take a look at what’s happening already, and ask yourself what’s waiting for every corner of the industry when Netflix owns or has leverage over nearly everything. If you rep talent, ask yourself how you’ll get fair wages for yourself and your clients when the negotiating points are "metrics" behind a veil of secrecy and manipulated to reflect whatever the monopoly exec wants (“yeah sure the entire world is talking about your client’s show, but the stickiness metrics for minutes 15 to 25 just weren’t there for us so we’re going to have to decline that request for a pay increase for the sequel.”) Every talent agency and their clients who have ever negotiated with Netflix based on performance metrics and false pretenses might have a case, but I'm not a lawyer.

Beyond the end of a living wage for most of the industry, also ask yourself if it's good for humanity to put a significant portion of our collective dreams (like Superman, Harry Potter, prestige HBO) into a machine whose senior management executes or condones business practices that hold the human artists and labor and professionals who create and support their "content" with contempt. And by the time all these things happen in a few years, Ted and the other execs responsible will retire and start calling themselves philanthropists so they can try to shift the blame to "consumer choice" for killing Hollywood. These are apex predator level sociopaths, willing and eager to kill a century-old industry of work and joy for humanity so a handful of people including themselves can profit from AI-imprisoned IPs forever.

If Netflix execs want a new office after their lease expires on Sunset Blvd, come to Philly and take it. It's waiting for you behind the dumpster at the Kensington Wawa. A perfect new office for you to keep dragging Hollywood down to the direct-to-DVD shelf at Blockbuster that your brand replaced. Make yourself at home, Goblin Kings.

Yet another industry decimated in every sense by short term tech profits for a few, falling to its death as a profession that might provide a living wage, like the continued unraveling of a living wage in journalism. At least we still have the AVA and printed 24-hour rock & roll.

Wednesday Tinasky, Fort Bragg

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MITCH CLOGG:

1/6/26 - In 1951, a 23-year-old woman named Dorothy Mae "Johnnie" Stevens (sometimes referred to as the "Frozen Woman") was found in a South Side Chicago alley in sub-zero temperatures. She had spent the night in a gangway at 3108 S. Vernon Avenue while trying to walk home from a local bar during -11°F weather. When discovered at 7:45 a.m. on February 7, her body was described as "hard as a rock," and her internal temperature had dropped to 64.4°F—the lowest human body temperature ever recorded at that time. Although doctors initially hoped she might recover fully, they eventually had to amputate both of her legs below the knees and several of her fingers due to severe frostbite. Her survival was considered a medical miracle; she regained consciousness 12 hours after being admitted to Michael Reese Hospital. Stevens lived until 1974. Following her recovery, she often spoke to church groups about her struggles with alcoholism and depression.

I was 12 or 13 when Johnnie's story broke. I still find it hard to believe. Her internal temperature had dropped to 64.4°F—the lowest human body temperature ever recorded at that time.

Skinny kid that I was, skinny old man that I am, I'm sensitive to cold.

In Lake County, I participated in a triathlon - run, bike, swim across Clear Lake and climb 4,000-foot Mt. Kanocti. This was the first of those Clear Lake triathlons. It was in September. The usual layer of warm water, the top three feet, say, was not the inviting warm that was expected. Windy weather and choppy water had mixed the surface water with the rest, and it was cold. My son Mitch3 covered me with vaseline the way I'd seen English-Channel swimmers do. It was cold going in, but I thought the exertion would warm me enough.

It didn't. Moreover, I was not swimming straight. I kept hooking right. There was a bright red target for the swimmers to home on, and every time I lifted my head, I saw I was off-course again. And I was getting miserably cold.

There were people in rowboats among the swimmers, to keep anybody from drowning. Over the noise you make swimming, I heard their faint voices telling me to correct course. The red target didn't seem to be getting closer. People were quitting and climbing out. As my determination chilled, I tried to keep going. I regret to say I was in no immediate danger when I signaled a boat; I was just too miserable to keep going. It wasn't worth it.

They covered me with a blanket. It didn't help. They took me to the finish line for the swim. There was a car dealership there. All the local businesses joined in the fun, and I stood in their car showroom under an overhead heater, letting the stream of warm air fall on me like honey.

Not enough. I was still shivering all over.

I went back outside to see my friend Doug Dunham come out of the water. He looked out of it, but Doug doesn't quit. Looking at him, his seeming confusion, indecisive movements, he appeared half conscious at best. Knowing his endurance, I wasn't sorry I'd joined the quitters (about half the starters).

I quit the race when I climbed into a rowboat, but it occurred to me that the only way to get warm was to finish anyway with the climb up Mt. Kanocti, so up we went, people still in the race and me. About halfway up I quit shivering.

Times like these me make me think of "The Frozen Woman," as she was called by the press, and also Victor of Aveyron, a feral French boy, discovered in 1800, naked and wild, a denizen of the forest.

(to be continued)

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THIS AIN'T NO AI SLOP!

by Don Shanley

Three Short Geographic Sequential Portraits Illustrating the Universal Monotony Of All History

I

(Quang Tri, Republic of Vietnam, 1967)

In the ditch

right side of the road

going west

near Cam Lo

one hardened (as a strip of beef jerky)

index

finger

& part of

an elbow.

II

(Big Piney, Wyoming, 1970)

I spied an old cowboy

blood under his nails

balding.

III

(New York City, 1974)

in New York City

on Canal Street

in a flea market

on a table center left

in a tray

on several thousand assorted nuts & bolts

with mustard & sauerkraut

a cold

half-eaten

hot dog.

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EVERYONE HATES THIS RUDE DISNEYLAND MOVE. This time, it ended in violence.

A fistfight broke out among guests after one breached park etiquette

by Julie Tremaine

Anyone who’s spent a fair amount of time at Disneyland has likely seen it: a group of people pushing their way through a long line, trying to catch up to the rest of their party farther along in the ride queue. At best, it’s an annoying inconvenience to let that many people cut ahead of you in a line you’ve been waiting in like everyone else; at worst, the breach in basic etiquette and park rules can result in unpleasant altercations between the line-skippers and people they’ve offended. On Dec. 30, a line-skipping incident resulted in a bloody fistfight between two Disneyland guests, with one man going to the hospital for treatment and the other man still at large.

“A group of people were waiting in line at Indiana Jones when another group cut through the line to catch up with other family members,” Anaheim police Sgt. Matt Sutter told KTLA-TV. According to social media posts about the incident, a family of six was pushing ahead, and a man who had been waiting in line spoke up about it.

According to witnesses, the line-skipping family fled the scene and left the park. As of Jan. 5, the member of that family involved in the altercation has not been identified, though KTLA-TV reports, “Sutter said investigators have strong leads on his identity and believe he is a Southern California resident.” When SFGATE asked for an update, the Anaheim Police Department did not respond in time for publication.

The man who was punched was visiting from Washington state with his wife and teenage daughter, according to KTLA-TV. He was reportedly treated on-site by Disneyland medics and went to the hospital for stitches on his forehead. He then returned to the park with his family for the rest of the day.

A Reddit user who says she’s the victim’s wife, @wittwitbarista, said, “He refused to hit back (which took a lot of discipline) because he didn’t want the rest of the family get kicked or us blacklisted. My teen got videos of the guy hitting my hubby. The security and CM took care of my kids while I left with my hubby as he got checked out and got a wicked scar with serious dad lore.” She did not respond to SFGATE in time for publication.

Line-skipping is a persistent problem at Disneyland and many other theme parks. It’s much more prevalent, and much less tolerated, during busy times, when the waits can be unusually long — and the two weeks over the holidays are by far the busiest time of the year. When wait times are long, tickets are at their most expensive and people don’t feel like they’re getting the quality experience they’re expecting at the “happiest place on earth,” tempers can quickly flare.

“I went to Disneyland 13 times last year and I can tell you straight up there is a huge problem with both of these things: line cutting and people being aggressive,” @KellenCox wrote on X in response to the incident.

“Line cutting is out of control,” @CleopatraF41616 commented. “Took my kids for the first and last time last year. Got shoulder checked from behind by line cutters multiple times.”

On Dec. 30, when the Washington man was punched, Indiana Jones Adventure’s average wait time was 58 minutes, per ThrillData, with a high of 70 minutes.

When asked for comment about the fistfight, Disneyland representatives referred SFGATE to the Disneyland Resort rules, which include a mandate that guests “show common courtesy to fellow Guests and our Cast Members by not … engaging in unsafe, illegal, disruptive or offensive behavior,” which specifically includes “jumping lines or saving places in lines for others.”

Those rules also prohibit “engaging in any unsafe act or other act that may impede the operation of the Disneyland Resort or any part thereof.” If the man who fled is caught, it’s likely that he will be banned from Disneyland.

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NOTE ON A LAWSUIT

A brief note on a sordid affair.

by Matt Taibbi

Recently author Eoin Higgins took to his Substack platform to complain, “Yes, I’m Being Sued by Matt Taibbi.” He wrote a book called Owned with a cover illustration showing marionette strings controlling people like me and Glenn Greenwald, the main subjects of his book, depicted me as “bought” by “tech billionaires on the right.” Though I’ve never taken any money from “tech billionaires on the right” and am entirely dependent on subscribers to this site, the suit was something Higgins felt needed celebrating.

Racket readers went through this when a member of congress called me a “serial sexual harrasser” last summer. Not wanting to pull a late-stage Lenny Bruce on a faithful audience the original plan was not to say anything. When The Free Press asked for a response, though, I gave one, published today. You can check it out if you like. One point left out is the main reason I felt I had to go to court.

Higgins somehow dismisses as an act of self-interest the key moment in my relationship with Elon Musk, when I refused to leave Substack and move to his new Twitter subs program. Elon was angry then about Substack’s new Notes feature, which he felt was an attempt to “kill Twitter,” so he began disabling Substack links not just for me but every Substack contributor, including ironically Eoin Higgins.

I would have done just about anything to keep working on the Twitter Files, but what Elon was asking — I still don’t think he understands this — would have looked like financial ties, which was enough undercut the reporting. I had no choice but to say no. When our exchanges were made public, these dynamics came out. Elon argued that if I moved to Twitter I’d “get far more subscribers,” but I still said no, because “people would essentially say I’m an employee of Twitter” and “both of us would never hear the end of it.” Also, the optics would be “really bad, journalistic ethics-wise.” Elon replied, “Then I guess it’s goodbye,” making clear I’d cut myself off.

If I’d been the marionetted mercenary Higgins and Hachette books claim I am, I’d have accepted Elon’s offer without a thought, put myself on Twitter subs, and kept cranking out Twitter Files stories. Instead I refused the inducement of “far more subscribers” to avoid the appearance of a financial relationship, and lost a great story because I was being asked to go to a place I felt I couldn’t go, “journalistic ethics-wise.”

This was a by-the-book example of what you have to do in such a situation, about which I consulted with older journalists. According to Higgins, though, it was motivated by greed. In Owned he writes that it was a “threat to Taibbi’s bottom line that finally motivated the journalist to act,” and I only protested the treatment of Substack because Musk was “threatening [my] subscription growth.” This makes no sense. Me staying at Substack was not an option for Elon. It was made clear there was only one way I could stay on that story, and I couldn’t do it, and that was that.

No one should get a medal for following basic standards, and I didn’t ask for one. However if for ethical reasons you have to give up a big story by standing up to a billionaire, it’s not a lot to ask that a major corporate publisher not subsequently describe you as a “bought” and “owned” puppet who literally sold his soul to that same billionaire. I didn’t make a big deal of this costly move because I think people should make decisions based only on whether or not they’re right, and not for credit, which means I was originally fine with people not noticing. But if you take advantage of that instinct to sell a book accusing me of bad ethics, what can I do but sue?

Higgins is having fun with this. He’s having a grand old time, laughing about smearing someone with corporate backing, and what a big joke it is that he should have to be careful with someone who’s “made no secret” of “ideological affiliation with the Republican Party.” Proof of the latter includes — this isn’t a joke — the fact that I once wrote a column called “Thanksgiving is Awesome” that made fun of Howard Zinn. These people are so nuts, they think you need a payoff to like Thanksgiving. They also think people with the wrong politics don’t deserve even the very low level of reputational care the law requires. This kind of person doesn’t care about being wrong, so courts are the only recourse. It sucks, but what else can you do?

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TO MEN

Sirs, when you pity us, I say
You waste your pity. Let it stay,
Well corked and stored upon your shelves,
Until you need it for yourselves.

We do appreciate God’s thought
In forming you, before He brought
Us into life. His art was crude,
But oh, so virile in its rude

Large elemental strength: and then
He learned His trade in making men;
Learned how to mix and mould the clay
And fashion in a finer way.

How fine that skilful way can be
You need but lift your eyes to see;
And we are glad God placed you there
To lift your eyes and find us fair.

Apprentice labour though you were,
He made you great enough to stir
The best and deepest depths of us,
And we are glad he made you thus.

Ay! we are glad of many things.
God strung our hearts with such fine strings
The least breath movces them, and we hear
Music where silence greets your ear.

We suffer so? but women’s souls
Like violet powder dropped on coals,
Give forth their best in anguish. Oh,
The subtle secrets that we know,

Of joy in sorrow, strange delights
Of ecstasy in pain-filled nights,
And mysteries of gain in loss
Known but to Christ upon the Cross!

Our tears are pitiful to you?
Look how the heaven-reflecting dew
Dissolves its life in tears. The sand
Meanwhile lies hard upon the strand.

How could your pity find a place
For us, the mothers of the race?
Men may be fathers unaware,
So poor the title is you wear,

But mothers -? Who that crown adorns
Knows all its mingled blooms and thorns;
And she whose feet that path hath trod
Has walked upon the heights with God.

No, offer us not pity’s cup.
There is no looking down or up
Between us: eye looks straight in eye:
Born equals, so we live and die.

— Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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EYESORE OF THE MONTH, January 2026

by James Kunstler

"Would you like a red-hot poker with your acid bath, señor?

Presenting, in honor of Nicolás Maduro, El Helicoide — or the Helix — in Caracas, Venezuela, the regime’s temple of pain. . . a prison and torture facility run by the National Intel Service of Venezuela,

Wikipedia sez: “Its construction was undertaken by a private company during the government of then-president Marcos Pérez Jiménez in 1956, designed by the architects Pedro Neuberger, Dirk Bornhorst and Jorge Romero Gutiérrez. The project was to have included 300 boutiques, eight cinemas, a heliport, a 5-star hotel, a park, a club of owners and a show palace on the seventh level. The building would include a four-kilometer long ramp spiraling around the structure itself, allowing vehicles to enter the building and park inside.”

Weren’t those the good old days? Wannabe hyper-consumerism! So quaint! The project was exhibited as a triumph of modernist design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and Salvador Dalí offered to decorate the interior.

Alas, it was soon cancelled, abandoned, and just sat, a dreary vacant dirt and cement ziggurat, inhabited by squatters, for more than a decade. In 2010, it was turned into the headquarters of the National Experimental Security University dedicated to training state police forces. You kinda wonder what kind of experimentsthey were running in there. From there, the experimental techniques that proved successful were applied to the ongoing political situation, and the prison / torture facilities were added. ¡Ahí lo tienes!

In various revolts, coups, rebellions over the years, the building has suffered bomb damage, but none of that has improved its outward appearance. What’s next for this fabulous building, with Sr. Maduro on his way to a life sentence in some federal slammer. My bet: a super-hyper-casino! Yeah, go for it! Sports book where they used to do the waterboarding! Three cheers for adaptive re-use!

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LEAD STORIES, WEDNESDAY'S NYT

Trump Claims Venezuela Will Send Oil to U.S.

U.S. Pressures Venezuela to Expel Official Advisers From China, Cuba, Iran and Russia, Officials Say

Rubio Tells Lawmakers Trump Wants to Buy Greenland

President Expects Impeachment if G.O.P. Falters in Midterm Elections

White House Posts False Jan. 6 Narrative on Riot’s 5th Anniversary

How Did This Family End Up Back in a Toxic House?

Journey to the Melting Continent

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Nobody knows what the rationale is because the administration has failed to describe a coherent rationale. It’s about drugs, no it’s about oil, no it’s about China, no it’s about saying the phrase “Monroe Doctrine” as some kind of magical incantation. Also the US government is going to run things even though every component of Venezuela’s prior government, military, judiciary, and affiliated militias are still in place… the simpletons envision every geopolitical scenario as a tournament between their respective heads of state.

And the arguments domestically are viewed as a sportsball game between team blue and team red. Never mind that this scale of regime change has always resulted in boots on the ground which is a nice way of saying our sons will be shipped off to yet another foreign misadventure to be ground up in Moloch’s meat grinder for the financial benefit of the military industrial complex. That there are still people who think this time it will be different and that the law of unintended consequences will be suspended for the first time never ceases to amaze.

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VENEZUELA TO END DOLLAR-DENOMINATED OIL DEALS, CURRENCY EXCHANGES [2017]

The Venezuelan government moved this week to phase out the use of US dollars in oil deals and official currency exchanges.

by Ryan Mallett-Outtrim, September 15, 2017

Puebla, Mexico – The Venezuelan government moved this week to phase out the use of US dollars in oil deals and official currency exchanges.

President Nicolas Maduro’s government has ordered oil traders to use other international currencies such as the euro in any crude oil deals, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. According to the report, the government has ordered traders to halt all payments denominated in US dollars, while state oil firm PDVSA has asked joint venture partners to convert existing holdings to euros. The claims were based on interviews with unnamed government officials, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Maduro administration hasn’t publicly announced such a decision, though in recent weeks top government officials have argued the country should move away from the dollar.

“The market is dominated by transactions with the US dollar, and we must develop other ways to conduct international transactions,” Finance Minister Ramon Lobo told state broadcaster VTV over the weekend.

“We must resort to other convertible currencies: the euro, the [Chinese] yuan, the pound sterling,” he said.

Then on Thursday, Lobo announced the government’s foreign currency auctions will start offering buyers currencies such as the euro and Russian rouble.

“We are making the technical and technological adjustments … so that Dicom, which is our main space for auctioning currencies, develops towards [currencies] other than the dollar,” he told teleSUR.

The announcement was made amid reports the government’s main currency auction system, Dicom, had abruptly stopped selling dollars. Lobo confirmed the auction house had been closed, but said it will restart operations soon.

“Once the technological adjustments are completed and authorised exchange traders are able to exchange in the currencies we are going to work with, we will open the Dicom again – but not in dollars, but in other currencies,” he said.

Dicom has so far auctioned around US$72 million in foreign currency since starting operations three months ago. Business groups and the opposition have complained this amount doesn’t cover demand, pushing Venezuelans to the flourishing currency black market. The Maduro administration has argued it is the target of a US-led “economic war”.

The government’s push to move away from the dollar follows new US sanctions barring all dealings in Venezuelan state debt and equity.

“It also prohibits dealings in certain existing bonds owned by the Venezuelan public sector, as well as dividend payments to the government of Venezuela,” the White House has stated.

The White House said its sanctions were “calibrated to deny the Maduro dictatorship a critical source of financing” while allowing for some humanitarian exceptions.

The restrictions are the fifth round of US sanctions on Venezuela this year, though previous measures were largely aimed at senior government officials.

(venezuelanalysis.com)

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