Mendocino County Today: Thursday 1/8/2026

Cold & Clear | Mossfall | Armed Juvenile | Methy Driver | Culvert Replaced | Warm Gear | Porter Dinehart | Mindcrowd.org | Sharkey Painting | Offshore Proposal | Clifford's Cabin | Yesterday's Catch | Seed Spill | Delta Decision | One-Party Rule | Hard Way | Lowest Rate | Hersh Doc | Spring Breeze | Bizarre Kakistocracy | Sweets | Cold Thoughts | Lash Larue | Venezuela | No Wise | My Shepherd | Slave Wage | One Thing | Venezuela Threat | Losers Fend | Greenland Next | Homeless Man | Confused Musician | Real Tyrant | Immortality Backwards | Interview | Lead Stories | Soundbite Electorate | Golden Pears | ICE Murder | Wanted | Narco Rubio | Bluff

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SHOWERS will continually diminish through Thursday with light snow as low as 1000 to 2000 feet for interior areas early Thursday morning. Cooler than normal conditions will continue into Friday, but slowly warm and dry this weekend. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): Late afternoon showers brought another .20" giving me 5.56" for the month & a season total of 26.94". On the coast this Thursday morning I have a crisp 42F under clear skies. The 10 day forecast chart shows nary a drop until Sat the 17th. We roof, therefore we are !

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ROUND VALLEY ‘MINOR’ ARRESTED WITH LOADED .380 SEMI-AUTO.

On 01/06/2026 at approximately 12:03 P.M., the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by a Round Valley High School official regarding a juvenile subject who reportedly brought a firearm to the school.

Sheriff’s Deputies working Patrol in Covelo immediately contacted the school official on the telephone to obtain additional investigative information.

The school official informed Sheriff’s Deputies they received information that a 15-year-old male juvenile brought a firearm to the school. Sheriff’s Deputies learned the school was not in session due to the lunch hour and the juvenile in question was likely not on school campus at the time, so they obtained a general description and clothing information to search the surrounding area for the subject.

Sheriff’s Deputies and Round Valley Tribal Police Officers began canvassing the surrounding area for the subject.

On Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at approximately 12:30 P.M., the male juvenile was observed walking westbound in the 23600 block of Greely Street in Covelo. This area was determined to be approximately 150 yards east of the high school, so law enforcement immediately contacted the juvenile to investigate this incident.

When approaching the subject, Sheriff’s Deputies observed the juvenile reaching towards his front sweatshirt pocket. Due to the nature of this investigation and reports the juvenile was armed with a firearm, he was detained and immediately searched for weapons. The Sheriff’s Deputies felt what they believed to be the grip portion of a firearm in the front waistband of the juvenile’s clothing.

Sheriff’s Deputies placed the juvenile in handcuffs and removed a handgun from the front waistband area of the juvenile’s clothing. The handgun was determined to be a loaded .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun. Sheriff’s Deputies discovered there were 10 live .380 cartridges loaded in the handgun magazine.

When performing a records check on the .380 caliber handgun, Sheriff’s Deputies determined the firearm had been reported stolen from Santa Rosa.

Based on the circumstances of this investigation, the 15-year-old male juvenile was advised and placed under arrest for Minor in possession of a handgun, and Carrying a loaded firearm in public. The juvenile was transported and lodged at the Mendocino County Juvenile Hall for the above charges.

The Sheriff’s Office provided information to the Round Valley High School officials, so they were aware of the circumstances of this investigation and arrest of the juvenile who reportedly brought a firearm to the school.

Anyone with information related to this investigation is requested to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center at 707-463-4086 (option 1).

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SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY LEADS TO NARCOTICS SALES ARREST

On January 6, 2026, at approximately 2300 hours, an Officer observed a male subject riding an electric scooter on the wrong side of the roadway in the 400 block of Walnut Street.

Officers lost sight of the subject temporarily while attempting to make contact with him. When they located the subject, later identified as Ismael Martinez, 51, of Los Angeles, he was observed running from a nearby yard back toward his scooter. Officers contacted Martinez and determined he was on Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS) out of Los Angeles County for prior drug-related offenses.

During the investigation, officers searched Martinez’s backpack and located a digital scale. Officers also searched the area where Martinez had been seen running from and located a flashlight containing a broken methamphetamine pipe attached to the outside of it. Inside the flashlight, officers discovered approximately 23 grams of suspected methamphetamine.

Martinez was arrested and later admitted to discarding the items in an attempt to prevent law enforcement from locating them.

Martinez was transported to the Mendocino County Jail and booked on the following charges: Possession of a Controlled Substance for Sale (felony); Transportation of a Controlled Substance for Sale (felony); and Violation of Post Release Community Supervision (felony). Martinez’s bail was set at $100,000.

The Fort Bragg Police Department can assist those with substance use disorders into treatment. Please call the Care Response Unit at (707) 961-2800 and choose option 6.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact Sergeant Frank at (707) 961-2800 ext. 223 or email [email protected].

This information is being released by Commander Jonathan McLaughlin. For media inquiries, please reach out to him directly at [email protected].

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CULVERT REPLACEMENT FOR GUALALA

Caltrans District 1 has completed an emergency culvert replacement project on Route 1 at Old Stage Road in Gualala, Mendocino County. A new 8-foot diameter fiberglass pipe was installed over 300 feet to improve drainage and allow fish passage from the Gualala River into China Gulch.

Designed with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries Service, the new culvert includes baffles to aid fish migration by slowing water and creating resting spots.

Caltrans also partnered with the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy to hydroseed and replant native vegetation, enhancing the waterway between the culvert and Gualala River. Over 800 native marsh plants will be added for salmon and other fish habitats. These improvements will be monitored throughout the winter.

Wylatti Resource Management was the contractor for the $7 million project.

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FORT BRAGG FOOD BANK NEEDS THINGS TO KEEP PEOPLE WARM

The Fort Bragg Food Bank is reaching out to our amazing community with a special request.

As the weather turns colder and wetter, our unhoused neighbors are in urgent need of tents, sleeping bags, rain gear, and warm clothing. New or gently used items can make a huge difference, and even save a life.

Needed items include:

• Tents
• Sleeping bags
• Rain jackets & ponchos
• Warm coats, sweaters & hoodies
• Gloves, hats, scarves
• Cold-weather gear of all kinds

If it helps keep you warm and dry, it can help someone else too!

Please consider cleaning out your closet, garage, or camping stash and donating what you can. Together, we can wrap our community in warmth, dignity, and care, one sleeping bag at a time

Donations can be dropped off at: Fort Bragg Food Bank - 910 N. Franklin Street. Please only donate when we are open and find an employee to take your donations.

Thank you for being the kind of community that shows up when it matters most.

Kathy ([email protected])

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IT IS WITH GREAT SADNESS that we share the passing of one of Project Sanctuary’s long-time team members, Porter Dinehart.

Porter passed away suddenly after a short illness on December 31, 2025.

For over three decades, Porter was integral to Project Sanctuary’s work serving victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault throughout our community.

Her family plans to have a memorial service later in the spring of this year.

Porter will be greatly missed.

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BOB ABELES: Re: ee.org test mentioned by Marco McClean

This test is a glaring case of “the bold print giveth while the fine print taketh away”. I visited the website. The main page contains some reassuring boilerplate about confidentiality and data retention. So far so good. However, when I visited their privacy policy, I discovered the horrible truth: Information, possibly including test results, are shared with Google, Meta, and others. So, by taking this test you may be revealing sensitive personal information to some of the sleaziest outfits on the internet. Don’t do it.

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VIRGINIA SHARKEY: Happy that “Intrusion,” Acrylic on Canvas, 48” x 48” was selected for “Seen & Unseen” at The Painting Center, NY, NY January 7-31.

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RED ALERT: SF CHRONICLE QUOTE REGARDING OFFSHORE DRILLING

This is quoted from the SF Chronicle 1/5/26:

“Once more, it’s time for us to act. We know what to do, because we’ve done it before. We must rise up and use our voices.

Between now and Jan. 23, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is taking public comments on this deeply flawed proposal. The administration needs to hear, in no uncertain terms, that its leasing plan is dead on arrival.

Together, we must stop the madness. Because madness is what it is.

The proposal to open offshore waters in California, Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico directly targets areas that were withdrawn from future leasing in January 2025. It follows a series of actions by President Donald Trump to gut clean-energy programs enacted as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, to reverse decades of public policy aimed at cleaning up tailpipe emissions, and to allow automakers to market less fuel-efficient cars

It’s time to raise our voices!

Love to you and all those you love,

Diane Clouse

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CLIFFORD’S CABIN: The epitome of thrifty country living. It’s amazing all the useful stuff you can find for free that might come in handy some day! Taken somewhere in the Mendocino Coast woods, 1972. (Nick Wilson)

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Wednesday, January 7, 2026

KEVIN BECKMAN, 55, Lucerne/Ukiah. Parole violation.

AMY CARDOZA, 51, Redway/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

RYAN DAVIS, 42, Navarro. Unlawful sexual intercourse with minor with perpetratory over 21 and victim under 16, commission of unlawful acts with child of 14-15 years of age, oral copulation with person under 18, contact with intent to commit lewd act with minor.

FIDEL GARIBO-CERVANTES, 33, Piercy. Short barreled rifle.

ADRIAN GUYETTE, 28, Covelo. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun, assault with firearm on peace offier.

THOMAS GUYETTE JR., 29, Ukiah. Controlled substance, more than an ounce of pot for sale, paraphernalia.

JOSALYNN JONES, 21, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

NATHANIEL KUGLER, 22, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-under influence, resisting.

ALEJANDRO LOPEZ, 43, Clearlake/Ukiah. Under influence, paraphernalia.

TEVIN MARIZETTE, 32, Willits. Tampering with vehicle registration.

ISMAEL MARTINEZ, 51, Fort Bragg. Controlled substance for sale, county parole violation.

CHERYL MATTSON, 53, Willits. Burglary.

JAMES MILLER, 39, Ukiah. County parole violation.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, 42, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs, controlled substance, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

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SACRAMENTO, YOLO AND SAN JOAQUIN AMONG COUNTIES THAT JUST WON MAJOR COURT VICTORY against Newsom’s plan to pay for $20 billion Delta

by Dan Bacher

Seven California counties — in coalition with environmental groups, fishing associations and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe — won their second big victory against the Newsom Administration and California Department of Water Resources when it comes to financing the proposed $20 billion Delta Conveyance Project, also known as”the Delta Tunnel.”

The Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District just upheld a Sacramento County judge’s decision in 2024 that state authorities have an invalid bond plan to fund the highly embattled project. Specifically, the appellate court agreed with the original judge that the state Department of Water Resources, or DWR, lacks the authority to issue revenue bonds to pay for the massive tunnel that would benefit central and southern California Ag interests and a handful of Newsom mega-donors.…

https://sacramento.newsreview.com/2026/01/06/sacramento-yolo-and-san-joaquin-among-counties-that-just-won-major-court-victory-against-newsoms-plan-to-pay-for-20-billion-delta-tunnel/

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CALIFORNIA IS AN EXAMPLE OF ONE-PARTY RULE

Editor:

Columnist Jack Burger fears one-party rule, ignoring that he lives in a one-party-rule state, no dissent tolerated. The state Senate and Assembly are supermajorities, and all the elected government officials are Democrats. No governor has been Republican since 2003. Registered voters include 45% Democrats, 25% Republicans and 22% independents.

In addition, most newspapers in this state lean left, including The Press Democrat. These papers inevitably endorse Democratic candidates and publish letters about 90% negative against Republicans.

Many celebrities have railed against President Donald Trump and threatened to leave the country; it’s their choice. It’s sad that such hate can trigger that reaction. Truthfully, I wouldn’t mind if a few more left. Trump Derangement Syndrome is a real condition, according to some psychiatrists.

Republicans are happy warriors. We are positive, optimistic and patriotic. We support Trump’s America First agenda. His policies are for the good of our country and our citizens. I pity Democrats who seem so depressed; they just can’t stand that Trump has been so successful in delivering what he promised, despite maligning him and trying to thwart every policy he has initiated. Yes, feel free to leave if you wish. Many Californians have.

Sandy Metzger

Santa Rosa

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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA STILL HAS THE NATION’S LOWEST ICE ARREST RATE

by Christian Leonard

Masked men in the streets, day laborers rounded up, families separated. Those visuals, along with armed troops patrolling the streets of Los Angeles, are firmly associated with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that swept Southern California last summer.

But as dramatic as those stories were, data from ICE shows that compared to the rest of the country, arrests have remained relatively rare in most of California, and nowhere more so than in Northern California.…

https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/ice-arrest-law-trump-21277663.php

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STEVE TALBOT

Recommended -- "Cover-Up," the new Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus documentary about investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, the man who broke the My Lai Massacre story and the Abu Ghraib prison torture story, among his many exposes in a long, long career uncovering violence and abuse of power. It's available on Netflix.

The film is revealing about Hersh's irascible, prickly personality, but it's mainly valuable as a history of U.S. wars from Vietnam to Iraq -- with countless lessons and insights for understanding what is happening now with the corrupt, authoritarian, out of control trump regime.

https://www.wbur.org/here…/2026/01/06/cover-up-documentary

I was in Vietnam in April last year and visited My Lai, where a museum marks the infamous spot where U.S. soldiers went crazy and massacred almost 500 Vietnamese civilians, almost all of whom were women, children and elderly men. It was a searing experience to be there and recall the horror of the U.S. war -- one of many atrocities the U.S. government and military tried to keep secret.

Hersh's 1983 book about Nixon and Kissinger, "The Price of Power," revealed their "madman" strategy of planning a massive escalation of the U.S. war in Vietnam in 1969, including threats and plans to use nuclear weapons. Many dismissed Hersh's revelations at the time, but they have since been corroborated by the release of previously classified national security documents, as I report in my American Experience | PBS documentary, The Movement and the "Madman".

Hersh isn't always right. He's gone off the deep end on several stories late in his career, and to its credit the film does not shy away from mentioning this, particularly his misguided (and now regretted) support for Syria's Bashar al-Assad.

But there's no doubt that Hersh has been a preeminent investigative reporter of our times.

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TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME

by John Arteaga

As the antics of this bizarre kakistocracy go from humorous to frightening and on to mass murder, one has to wonder about the thinking of the hard-core Maga base. I mean, at what point will their seemingly unshakable belief in the every word of a guy who is on record as uttering thirty-some thousand lies in his first term? One would hope that a certain basic level of humanity might begin to sour one to this charlatan when he rants on about everyone's beloved Rob Reiner and his wife who were tragically murdered by their mentally ill son. Instead, in true narcissist style, Trump made it all about himself; tying this tragic death to Reiner’s "Trump derangement syndrome". I guess Mr. Reiner was a particularly biting critic of the president's, and unlike so many people in positions of power, was not cowed into biting his tongue about it. That was enough to put him permanently in Trump's vast list of those who deserve his ‘retribution’.

Well yeah, Reiner, along with well over half of our fellow citizens (recent polling shows Trump's approval rating down at 36% or so, lower than any president except Nixon post-Watergate) seems to have 'suffered' from that syndrome. So, I guess my father, who volunteered to go fight World War II in Europe, suffered from Hitler derangement syndrome. With every passing day of this ridiculous regime it becomes more apparent that this government poses an extreme threat to democracy in the United States, not to mention the rest of the world.

Trump is destroying so many things, both domestically and internationally, it is so hard to construct any kind of tally of them in which one is more tragic and/or important than the other! Is the largely US funded Israeli genocide in Gaza and the West Bank any worse than the starvation of perhaps millions of Africans abandoned by Trump and his merciless pitbull Doge? How about the thousands of farmers across the fruited plain who have worked so hard to produce this life-giving food aid? And to lose these vast distribution systems across all of mainly Africa forever, all to save what amounts to a couple of bucks per person per year in this country?!

The pattern has been set for all to see; Trump, or the unseen cabal who guide his purple, swollen hands, just seems to be able to blow by every law, treaty, convention, right down to the most basic kind of human decency, and no one will stand up to him/them! The Supreme Court is useless, dominated by a fascist cabal straight out of Opus Dei, and the UN, for all its promise of world peace, is in danger of being diminished to a point of irrelevance.

The horrific blitzkrieg that we unleashed on the people of Caracas a couple of days ago to enable the kidnapping of their president and his wife (90 dead, much property destruction) could not be a more textbook example of a completely unprovoked military assault in direct violation of the UN charter, to which we are signatories, and international law! Much like the ‘double tap’ strike on that little boat near Venezuela, where they probably used another hundred thousand dollar missile to kill the two survivors clinging to flotsam after the first missile, which was a clearly criminal act. Apparently in the military manual about a soldier’s duties under the Geneva Convention, they actually cite as an example of what would obviously be a war crime, “firing upon shipwrecked sailors”

I wish that everyone could hear one of my favorite political commentators, Jeffrey Sachs, who has served under numerous presidents and has worked for countries all over the world as an economist. He was called upon to advise the UN Security Council which had convened an emergency meeting to discuss how to respond to the US invasion of Venezuela.

His recommendations to the UN Security Council? That it’s existential to the UN; the US invasion of Venezuela is so plainly and blatantly in contravention to every letter and principle of the UN that they must demand that the United States immediately withdraw any troops from the area, desist in it's completely illegal blockade and stop all of its coercive measures.

The US hardly even bothers to proffer any kind of credible excuse for its naked colonial resource-ripping aggression; this whole story about drug shipment hardly merits a chuckle, especially after Trump just pardoned the convicted and sentenced Honduran chief who was responsible for importing hundreds of tons of cocaine into the US! Of course, maybe he bought $100 million worth of Trump’s crypto. That’s the ticket! Maybe that’s all that Maduro has to do to go home; see how much worth of Trump coins he has to buy to get a pardon, even preemptively! Save a jury a lot of trouble.

They are saying the quiet part out loud; that they’re going to ‘run’ Venezuela, as if it were a Cinnabon location in an airport. I can see just how great that’s going to work out, given all the previous examples of regime change gone wrong, starting with Cambodia, where we turned this once peaceful country into the killing fields of Pol Pot, down through Iran, Afghanistan, Ukraine and another half dozen countries in the area where we have wasted trillions and thousands of lives. How we keep getting suckered into these stupid unending conflicts with no possibility of success is a testimony to the ignorance of the American people.

How deluded are our ‘leaders’ that they cannot foresee the catastrophe they are setting up for us; do they really think that the Venezuelans are going to get on board and work to enrich American oil companies instead of their own society? Oh well, I’m sure the fools running our government think, “if they don’t do what we want, we’ll just figure out which of them are the bad guys and bomb the hell out of them”. Maybe that’s what it all comes down to anyway; burning through the stocks in trade of some of the most profitable companies in the world, the military-industrial (media and legislative) complex. As Trump always loves to brag, “we’ve got the best (killing) equipment in the world, by far!”. Such a weird thing to brag about! Such a disgraceful way for a supposedly civilized country to act!

On my blog at: https://inarationalworld2.blogspot.com/2026/01/trump-derangement-syndrome.html

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MITCH CLOGG:

Victor of Aveyron, Wild and Cold (continued from yesterday)

First spotted around 1794, a couple of hunters grabbed him in 1797. He was trying to get away from them by climbing a tree. They took him to town and left him in the care of a widow. His estimated age was nine. He walked on all fours, didn't talk or make any other vocalization and quickly ran away, back to the forest. All this was documented, reported and recorded by journalists, doctors and scientists.

He comes to my mind now because his preferred dress was nothing. During one of his several captivities he romped in new-fallen snow happily, making clear he was fully adapted to cold. I shiver at the thought.

Tomorrow, January 8, will mark exactly two hundred and twenty-six years since he came unbidden from the woods, age twelvish, and lived an odd and minutely studied life until he died in Paris, age pegged at forty, of pneumonia, still unable to speak or imitate the behavior of less-sylvan people.

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I'm not always undone by cold. Here in Mendocino, I took a course in the martial art of aikido. At the end, a well-known master of aikido came from San Francisco to congratulate and accept us into the society of practitioners.

It was winter, one of the few times I ever saw snow here, but snow it did and snow there was, patches here and there on the ground, all the way to the water. Our final lesson entailed immersing ourselves in Big River, celebrating our newly acquired self-discipline and endurance. In our heavy-cotton aikido robes, we trooped down to the water and sat in the sand, grimly conscious of and even a little amused by the patches of snow around us.

We faced the hillside opposite, the short street running down to the shop called Catch-A-Canoe. We chanted: OM-m-m-m-m, OM-m-m-m-m, OM-m-m-m-m. I felt a welcome warmth the chant seemed to create. Our sensei said to cast off the gi, the heavy cotton robe, and step into the fifty-five degree water. Suited only for swimming, we did that.

I stepped a little deeper, bent my knees and lowered myself 'til the water was at my chin. It was, surprisingly, not as shocking as I expected. Since "immersion" included everything, I sank until my head was underwater. I was happy. This was more fun than awful.

We were in the water less than a minute when the sensei told us to come out. I groaned: "C'mon you chickens!" I wanted to experience this a teeny bit more, but I didn't linger when everybody else stepped up on the beach and toweled off.

So there was that.

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Another time, I and Brian Lewis climbed Mt. Shasta. It was summer, but Mt. Shasta is 14,179 feet high. Due north of the Sacramento Valley, Shasta stands alone, conspicuous as Fuji. Here, exactly, is its standing:

World's most prominent peaks 96th

North America highest peaks 48th

North America most prominent peaks 18th

US most prominent peaks 11th

North America isolated peaks 28th

US highest major peaks 34th

California highest major peaks 5th

Two-thirds of the way up, it snowed, summer or no summer. You expect sunshine in summer on Shasta, but the sun was behind the clouds. I was warm, with suitable clothes and the exertion of the climb, but my gloves were too skimpy. My hands felt like they were turning blue. They hurt!

I said this to Brian, embarrassed to hear the whine in my voice. He stopped, took off his mittens and said, "try these." I demurred. He said, "just until your hands warm up." I grumbled "won't help."

The instant I put my hands in those mittens, they felt warmer. In less than a minute, I handed them back. I've been searching for down mittens ever since. They're too expensive. My hands weren't exactly toasty for the rest of that day, but they didn't get as cold as before.

Side note: Ellie and I have climbed Shasta. At the foot of the mountain, standing in what looked like nothing more than a couple of inches of snow, we heard underfoot the sound of streaming water. It was snowmelt, an iced-over stream of it rushing downhill. It was the Sacramento River, the beginning of the biggest river system in California, making a white sound deep below our feet.

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LASH LARUE

Jan. 6, 1966 - Albert (Lash) Larue, once known on screen as the “king of the bullwhip,” was arrested for vagrancy in Miami early today with 35 cents in his pocket and desolation in his voice. Before dawn, Larue, wearing dark glasses and a stubble of beard, approached a policeman in a bus station and said: “I want you to destroy me.” The officer instead placed him under arrest.

Larue had been traveling the carnival circuit performing his bullwhip act. He told police he had come to Miami in search of a friend but could not find him. A woman later posted $50 bail for his release.

Married nine times, Larue appeared in 39 films — the most recent a 1961 production titled “Please Don’t Touch Me.” He also portrayed John Behan, the corrupt sheriff on television’s “Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.”

Today, Larue explained that he had asked the policeman to destroy him “because I wanted a transfer from the physical to the spiritual. Man will never defeat God.”

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VENEZUELA

My best friend's in Venezuela; he sent me a letter and a photograph,
When I miss him so, you know, his letters always make me laugh,
Well, he's down there in the southern sun, where the ocean waves roll blue,
Walking barefoot in the sand, you know, that's something we always liked to do,
Oh, and I believe I'll go to Venezuela too.

Well, he tells me that he's happy there, and he doesn't really know how long he's gonna stay,
There's a gentle breeze every morning that can blow your troubles away,
I know he's searching for his peace of mind and a place where the pace is slow,
I only wish I was there to share; just making it a two man show,
Oh, and I believe I'm really bound to go.

Oh, Venezuela,
I can see him in the evening, dancing 'neath the moonlit sky,
Oh, Venezuela,
You take good care of that friend of mine,
He's rambling blind, you treat him kind,
He's looking for his wings to fly.

My best friend's in Venezuela; he sent me a letter and a photograph, yeah,
When I miss him so, you know, his letters always make me laugh,
And they always make me laugh,
We've gone our separate ways to see the world, but I can still hear him say…
"Well, you go north and, Randy, I'll go south, and I'll meet you for a song in L.A.,"
Hey, and I believe…oh, I believe…oh, I believe I'm gonna meet that boy halfway.

— lyrics by Randy Stonehill (1980)

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“IN MY WHOLE LIFE, I have known no wise people who didn't read all the time, none, zero.”

— Charlie Munger

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CHARLES BUKOWSKI'S LETTER TO JOHN MARTIN:

Hello John:

Thanks for the good letter. I don’t think it hurts, sometimes, to remember where you came from. You know the places where I came from. Even the people who try to write about that or make films about it, they don’t get it right.

They call it “9 to 5.” It’s never 9 to 5, there’s no free lunch break at those places, in fact, at many of them in order to keep your job you don’t take lunch. Then there’s overtime and the books never seem to get the overtime right and if you complain about that, there’s another sucker to take your place.

You know my old saying, “Slavery was never abolished, it was only extended to include all the colors.”

And what hurts is the steadily diminishing humanity of those fighting to hold jobs they don’t want but fear the alternative worse. People simply empty out. They are bodies with fearful and obedient minds. The color leaves the eye. The voice becomes ugly. And the body. The hair. The fingernails. The shoes. Everything does.

As a young man I could not believe that people could give their lives over to those conditions. As an old man, I still can’t believe it. What do they do it for? Sex? TV? An automobile on monthly payments? Or children? Children who are just going to do the same things that they did?

Early on, when I was quite young and going from job to job I was foolish enough to sometimes speak to my fellow workers: “Hey, the boss can come in here at any moment and lay all of us off, just like that, don’t you realize that?”

They would just look at me. I was posing something that they didn’t want to enter their minds.

Now in industry, there are vast layoffs (steel mills dead, technical changes in other factors of the work place). They are layed off by the hundreds of thousands and their faces are stunned:

“I put in 35 years…”

“It ain’t right…”

“I don’t know what to do…”

They never pay the slaves enough so they can get free, just enough so they can stay alive and come back to work. I could see all this. Why couldn’t they? I figured the park bench was just as good or being a barfly was just as good. Why not get there first before they put me there? Why wait?

I just wrote in disgust against it all, it was a relief to get the shit out of my system. And now that I’m here, a so-called professional writer, after giving the first 50 years away, I’ve found out that there are other disgusts beyond the system.

I remember once, working as a packer in this lighting fixture company, one of the packers suddenly said: “I’ll never be free!”

One of the bosses was walking by (his name was Morrie) and he let out this delicious cackle of a laugh, enjoying the fact that this fellow was trapped for life.

So, the luck I finally had in getting out of those places, no matter how long it took, has given me a kind of joy, the jolly joy of the miracle. I now write from an old mind and an old body, long beyond the time when most men would ever think of continuing such a thing, but since I started so late I owe it to myself to continue, and when the words begin to falter and I must be helped up stairways and I can no longer tell a bluebird from a paperclip, I still feel that something in me is going to remember (no matter how far I’m gone) how I’ve come through the murder and the mess and the moil, to at least a generous way to die.

To not to have entirely wasted one’s life seems to be a worthy accomplishment, if only for myself.

yr boy, Hank

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‘VENEZUELA, THE THREAT OF A GOOD EXAMPLE’: A Conversation with Geraldina Colotti

by Cira Pascual Marquina, December 5, 2025

As Washington intensifies its hybrid war against Venezuela—combining sanctions, lawfare, psychological operations, and military threats—the South American country once again finds itself in the headlines. To understand this moment, Cira Pascual Marquina spoke with Geraldina Colotti, an Italian journalist, revolutionary militant, and former political prisoner who has engaged with Venezuela for decades. Colotti argues that the current offensive against the Caribbean nation is part of a broader imperial strategy to reassert US hegemony amid a terminal crisis of global capitalism. Drawing parallels with Iraq, Libya, Palestine, and Vietnam, she explains how the Bolivarian Revolution represents the “threat of a good example” and why, despite suffocating sanctions and relentless destabilization, Venezuela continues to be a living paradigm of popular resistance.

There is a new imperialist military escalation against Venezuela going on right now. Why is it happening and why now?

To understand this moment, we have to go to the root of the problem. Capitalism is in a structural, multifaceted crisis—a systemic crisis that is terminal. Historically, whenever capitalism faces a crisis, it turns to the military-industrial complex to extend its life. That is happening once again.

Some people believed that Donald Trump would end interventionist foreign policy, because he claimed he wouldn’t invade countries like the Democrats do. But during his first presidency, Trump was the number one promoter of economic warfare, which operates alongside Fifth Generation warfare.

Venezuela is a clear example. The unilateral coercive measures—the so-called “sanctions”—are silent bombs that kill in the shadows, enabled by the Western media and its ideological machinery. We see the same logic most starkly in the genocide in Palestine: the erasure of historical memory paves the way for impunity. And that operation is far from unique.

For decades, Western powers have relied on blackmail, criminalization, and ideological manipulation to dismantle radical imaginaries. They have demonized resistance in all its forms, from workers’ struggles in industrial centers to the armed liberation movements in the Global South.

The result is an inevitable contradiction between the legitimacy of peoples’ rights and the fiction of bourgeois legality: a legality that kills with clean hands while demanding that the oppressed revere it. And when that legality no longer serves the interests of the dominating class, it is discarded without hesitation, as we see in Palestine and in the broader manipulation of international law.

The UN Charter itself recognizes the right of oppressed peoples to resist, including with arms. Yet Palestinians are branded “terrorists,” while Netanyahu, a genocidal criminal, is upheld as the defender of “democracy.” It is a world turned upside down.

At the same time, the rulers of this world—an ever-shrinking elite that hoards wealth as inequality deepens—are showing their true selves. Trump’s inauguration made this spectacle unmistakable: he took office surrounded by the richest men on the planet, openly aligning the US presidency with the power of a few. From day one, he made it clear that, for this ruling class, the poor and the working people don’t count at all. You either submit, or you are discarded.

Venezuela, with its modest population of around 30 million, contrasts with the winner-take-all world norm. Let’s take one example: before the US-led blockade, Venezuela had practically achieved the Millennium Goals—a fact recognized by the UN. And so Venezuela became an example. That is why Obama, the “democrat,” declared Venezuela an “unusual and extraordinary threat.” Venezuela represents the threat of the good example.

The present military escalation is not just against Venezuela. Washington seems to be moving aggressively to reassert its dominance over the whole Latin American and Caribbean region. Why do you think that is?

The same strategy applies to Latin America and the Caribbean: bring governments to their knees, including those that are progressive without being radical. The US succeeded in blackmailing timid progressive governments—Peru being a dramatic example. Pedro Castillo, a rural teacher, was condemned to eleven years in prison. After being elected, he was forced to “distance himself” from the country’s historical class struggle, from the memory of the popular war, and then he was overthrown and jailed.

This mirrors what happened in Italy: any attempt at resistance was (and is) demonized. After we [the Italian Red Brigades] kidnapped the highest NATO commander in 1981, Washington ordered the institutionalization of torture in Italy. Not random torture but state-sanctioned torture, and the government did what the US told it to do.

The overall result has been a systematic erasure of historical memory. Younger generations often don’t even know what happened in the history of Italy, Peru or for that matter, across Latin America. Today, whenever people rise up—against exploitation, defending public services, etc.—they are met with the same old blackmail: distance yourself from the history of struggle. Socialism is made to be synonymous with dictatorship, and every progressive candidate in Latin America is required to renounce “the dictator Maduro.”

Meanwhile, Washington is rebuilding its military presence in the region. Honduras, Ecuador, Argentina, and others are once again hosting US bases. Guyana, backed by multinational corporations, is being used to seize Venezuela’s oil. The goal is to return Venezuela to the conditions of the Fourth Republic [1958-1999], which was that of total subordination.

Many have described what Venezuela and Cuba endure as “exemplary punishment.” Meanwhile, in an eerie echo of old settler-colonial practices, the US has put a 50 million dollar bounty on President Maduro’s head. What is going on?

The new element is that international capital is once again relying openly on fascism to resolve its crisis. The empire demands total submission.

However, Venezuela continues to be an example: despite facing suffocating sanctions, it is now supplying 90% of its own food. Imperialism responds by making Venezuela into a laboratory for Fourth and Fifth Generation warfare, including a sophisticated propaganda war, or what we now call cognitive warfare.

It hasn’t worked here [in Venezuela], but it’s worked elsewhere. Decades ago, Frantz Fanon described how the colonized can end up identifying with the colonizer. Today, we see how in many countries, people are either abstaining or casting their ballots for figures marketed as “anti-system,” even though these politicians are the purest products of the system, and some of them are outright fascists.

Yet, as we know, participation in bourgeois elections itself requires oligarchic backing, and the idea of a true “anti-system candidate” emerging from that arena is a farce. Even so, fear and propaganda make the lie believable, so people end up voting for Trump, Bolsonaro, or Milei.

Internal colonialism’s mechanism is fear, which Malcolm X explained brilliantly: the demonization of migrants and racialized populations. In Europe and in the US, the poorest—migrants, Blacks, and Indigenous peoples—become scapegoats.

In this context, Venezuela becomes intolerable to imperialism. Maduro is an “obrero,” a worker. What greater offense could there be than a working-class president leading a country with immense oil and gold reserves that is an ally of China and Russia? For imperialism, that is unforgivable.

What the US is doing today follows a well-known formula. Before invading Iraq—a non-aligned country with vast oil reserves—Washington applied brutal sanctions, fabricated a story about weapons of mass destruction, and imposed a no-fly zone. Today, instead of WMDs, Venezuela is accused of “narcoterrorism,” and while there is no official no-fly zone, Trump declared Venezuela’s airspace “closed in its entirety.” The result has been that many airlines have stopped operating here, for example making it difficult for you to return to Italy. Doesn’t it all seem very familiar?

There are parallels with past wars, but the United States has also learned from its own defeats—above all from Vietnam—and later from the debacle in Iraq. Washington understands that occupying Venezuela would become its graveyard. Here, the concept of the “civic-military union” anchored in organized communities has been cultivated for decades. That is why, up to now, the US has preferred other kinds of aggression against Venezuela: economic war, proxy actors, mercenaries, and the deployment of new technological tools.

Today, destruction is carried out through highly technological means, including artificial intelligence. Recall how in Afghanistan, war was converted into a video game. The person launching a missile from thousands of kilometers away never saw blood; the distance made war palatable for the public.

Since then, the imperial playbook has continued to evolve—leading to today’s televised yet denied genocide in Palestine. We see the bodies, yet the media manufactures another narrative in which the victim is a “terrorist.” This emotional dislocation is deliberate. When Libya was torn apart, images of chaos and suffering were broadcast nonstop, but the blame was placed on Gaddafi, not on the NATO forces that carried out the destruction.

Returning to Venezuela, Washington has spent years distorting Maduro’s image to condition public opinion for aggression. As with Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi, the goal is to turn him into an object of fear, so that the public eventually accepts intervention with the thought: “At least they got rid of the tyrant.”

Meanwhile, much of the Global North’s population is kept inside a “quiet zone,” a bubble of privileges and curated narratives. The world is being Balkanized—geographically, economically, and cognitively. The perpetrators call it “humanitarian war,” “responsibility to protect,” but it is simply conquest with a new name.

Thus, the latest “no-fly zone” narrative functions as part of the broader psychological operation. Yet this phase may give way to a far more dangerous escalation, including targeted strikes. This is the biggest concern at the moment.

If these attacks continue to escalate, how do you see Venezuela’s capacity to confront imperialism?

I have witnessed the heroism of the Venezuelan people up close. From the moment I was allowed to travel [after leaving prison], I have visited the country many times. I have witnessed the fascist guarimbas [2014 and 2017] that included lynchings and burning human beings alive, the sabotage of the electrical grid, coup and magnicide attempts, and an all-out economic war against the people.

Venezuela has been through everything except a successful overthrow of its government! They have even used “legal” warfare—lawfare—to take Venezuela’s assets, as in the Citgo heist. Of course, lawfare is used in other countries as well—from France to Brazil, to name just a few. However, in Venezuela, lawfare did not succeed in removing or keeping the Left out of power.

Venezuelans are extraordinary. I’m poor in Italy, I struggle daily, but even at my most difficult moments, I am not living in a permanent state of war. Venezuelans are in a state of war daily: unable to brush their teeth because there was no water at one point, queuing for hours to get basic food staples, and enduring shortages for years. And, of course, women are the main targets. That shouldn’t surprise anybody.

I will never forget a woman I met on my first trip here in 2011. When the revolution began, she had no ID documents—she literally didn’t “exist” in the system. When I first saw her, she was a proud cédula [ID] holder, yet she had lost all her teeth. Still, she was leading her community with authority, like the women of the Paris Commune.

A year later, when I returned, she was still at the forefront—and now her teeth had been fixed, something in Italy that would cost as much as an apartment. That transformation that I witnessed was political: a powerful sign of what the revolution made possible. These are the things imperialism wants to hide. They are the reasons Venezuela remains standing.

Venezuela is responding to the economic warfare it’s facing with creativity: alternative currencies backed by rice or coffee, communal initiatives, collective solutions. As people say here: if they push us out the door, we come back through the window.

What we are witnessing is the spirit of the Vietnamese people reborn in Venezuela. And that is why Venezuela is a paradigm of resistance.

(venezuelanalysis.com)

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IS GREENLAND NEXT?

by Peter Bach

In the recent Atlantic interview, Donald Trump reiterated that the United States “absolutely needs Greenland,” effectively renewing his push for American control or influence over the Danish territory, a stance drawing sharp criticism from Denmark and Greenland’s leaders, and which many had hoped had gone away.

As Thucydides—more accustomed to the warm waters of the Mediterranean than to the icebergs of the Greenland Sea—once observed, “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” Trump, only a few days earlier, had reasserted his desire to take Greenland, stating that the United States “has to have” it for national security reasons, though it is no secret to say he also likes its potential for recoverable rare earths.

Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen of the Social Democrats, was pugnacious in her New Year’s speech. “Wanting to take over another country, other people. As if it were something you could buy and own. It doesn’t belong anywhere,” she said, adding ominously: “Never before have we increased our military strength so significantly. So quickly.” Since the US action in Venezuela, Katie Miller, the wife of Trump deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, posted a provocative image on X showing a map of Greenland coloured with the US flag and captioned it simply: ‘SOON.’ What baffles Danes most is the sense of pleasure that seems to be taken by Americans in all this.

As part of this renewed and worrying push, Trump has appointed Louisiana governor Jeff Landry as special envoy. Landry insists the United States is not seeking to “conquer” Greenland but merely to engage with Greenlanders. Yet he publicly posted the following publicly to Trump: “It’s an honor [sic] to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland part of the US.” French president Emmanuel Macron offered a characteristically Gallic shrug: “Greenland belongs to its people. Denmark stands as its guarantor.”

Landry’s professional background is overwhelmingly domestic. He has served as a hardline conservative governor since 2024, previously as Louisiana’s attorney general, and before that as a combative member of Congress. He has no evident experience in foreign policy, Arctic security, or diplomatic negotiation with NATO allies. For critics, this makes his selection seem bizarre. Supporters point instead to his loyalty to the president. The appointment fits a broader pattern in which political allegiance is valued over diplomatic competence.

Trump’s daughter Tiffany’s businessman father-in-law has been described as a senior adviser for Africa. A son-in-law and a real-estate associate have both handled Russia. Meanwhile, the US consulate in Nuuk is reportedly seeking unpaid interns to manage its communications channels, with the listing stating that the role involves communicating “US foreign policy priorities to a Greenlandic audience.” The symbolism is hard to miss.

Denmark has rejected the premise of Landry’s appointment outright and has indicated it will summon the US ambassador to register its objections. Do not expect a celebratory shot of Aalborg Akvavit at the meeting. Danish officials see the move as further erosion of respect for sovereignty and it is unlikely to unfold in a convivial spirit.

Greenland’s government has also firmly rejected talk of annexation. Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has stressed that decisions about Greenland are made in Greenland, reflecting its autonomy within the Kingdom of Denmark. Leaders in Nuuk and Copenhagen have spoken with one voice in dismissing any suggestion that Greenland’s status is somehow up for negotiation. Rarely have Greenland and Denmark appeared so closely aligned.

Yes, Greenland has long had a strong but cautious independence movement. For many Greenlanders, full sovereignty remains a long-term goal rather than an immediate demand. What has changed is not the debate itself, but the way it is now being conducted.

Recent events in Venezuela show just how fast political expectations can fall apart. Greenland is not Venezuela. Its institutions are stronger, and its alliances are stable. The point is not that the situations are the same, but that change can happen fast. When powerful countries suggest that long-standing rules are open to change, smaller ones are forced to adjust faster than they would like. Washington’s blunt approach has had an unexpected result. It has pushed Nuuk and Copenhagen closer together, not further apart.

European leaders have been broadly supportive of Denmark’s position. Echoing a principle articulated centuries ago by Emer de Vattel—that small states are no less sovereign than great powers—senior EU figures, including Spain’s prime minister, vocal about Venezuela, and European Commission leadership, less so, have publicly defended Danish sovereignty, and criticised Washington’s bullish approach. This has not, however, halted defence cooperation. The US State Department has just approved a potential sale of advanced air-to-air missiles to Denmark. These are valued at up to $951 million.

On the natural minerals front, the Trump administration insists its stance on Greenland reflects security concerns rather than resource ambition—a claim Danish and Greenlandic leaders strongly contest. Even if legitimate security concerns do exist, as surely they might, the manner in which Washington has chosen to pursue them has generated suspicion rather than reassurance.

The larger question is how all this affects NATO in 2026. Not in formal treaty terms, but in trust upon which alliances depend. A cynic might see this as an opportunity for the US to weaken its involvement in an organisation that some, including Elon Musk, have already suggested Washington should leave. Even without annexation, Greenland is likely to see an expanded US military presence.

The effects reach beyond Denmark. Russia is unlikely to confront NATO directly over Greenland, but it may use the dispute to portray the US as acting in an imperial manner, as it has already done in Venezuela. The situation could also be used to justify further military build-up along Russia’s Arctic coast—another example of pressure that falls short of triggering NATO’s collective defence clause.

China, meanwhile, may benefit by positioning itself as a champion of sovereignty and restraint, quietly re-engaging in Arctic scientific and economic discussions even if major investments remain out of reach. Beijing does not need bases in Greenland. Like Russia, it may simply welcome NATO disunity. Or, in China’s case, European goodwill.

The Arctic Council is likely to remain limited by Russia’s isolation and by Western countries moving security discussions to other forums. Military cooperation will increasingly happen through NATO or bilateral agreements, while environmental and Indigenous issues risk losing attention despite recent progress.

What is at stake is not Greenland itself. It is the precedent its treatment sets. Venezuela showed how quickly assumptions about sovereignty can erode once powerful states decide the rules are flexible. When that logic is applied elsewhere, pressure replaces principle and trust surrenders to suspicion. Greenland may remain Danish, autonomous, and unannexed, but the damage to the assumptions that once made such outcomes secure may be much, much harder to contain.

“Stop the threats,” said Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen.

(Peter Bach lives in London.)

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I AM A CONFUSED MUSICIAN who got sidetracked into this goddamn Word business for so long that I never got back to music - except maybe when I find myself oddly alone in a quiet room with only a typewriter to strum on and a yen to write a song. Who knows why? Maybe I just feel like singing, so I type.

These quick electric keys are my Instrument, my harp, my RCA glass-tube microphone, and my fine soprano saxophone all at once. That is my music, for good or ill, and on some nights it will make me feel like a god. Veni, Vidi, Vici… That is when the fun starts.

— Hunter S. Thompson

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RIGHT WINGERS are like “Listen to Venezuelans! No, not the Venezuelans in the streets demanding Maduro’s return. No, not the polls saying most people in Venezuela oppose US regime change. Those are the wrong Venezuelans. I meant listen to the Venezuelan talking to Fox News from his mansion in Miami.”

They’re like, “Trump needed to invade Venezuela and abduct its president because otherwise that poor country would be victimized by the whims of a despotic tyrant!”

Actually fellas I’m pretty sure the real tyrannical regime is the one who’s claiming the entire western hemisphere is their personal property and they get to control what happens in every country on half the planet.

Pretty sure what’s tyrannical is invading a country, murdering scores of people, and abducting its leader in order to steal control of its resources.

I kinda think the real tyrant on the scene is whoever’s trying to rule the world and aggressively targeting any country anywhere on the planet that resists that agenda.

Like maybe a really good example of tyranny would be constantly toppling governments and starting wars of aggression and targeting civilian populations with starvation sanctions and waging proxy conflicts and dropping bombs and interfering in elections and circling the planet with hundreds of military bases and working to kill, subvert and subjugate any population anywhere on earth if they disobey your commands.

Pretty sure the tyrant we actually need to worry about is whoever’s doing that.

— Caitlin Johnstone

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BY THE AGE OF 70, he who doesn’t read will have lived only one life. He who reads will have lived 5000 years. Reading is immortality backwards.

Umberto Eco, January 5, 1932 – February 19, 2016

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INTERVIEW

The ladies men admire, I’ve heard,
Would shudder at a wicked word.
Their candle gives a single light;
They’d rather stay at home at night.
They do not keep awake till three,
Nor read erotic poetry,
They never sanction the impure,
Nor recognize an overture.
They shrink from powders and from paints . . .
So far, I’ve had no complaints.

— Dorothy Parker (1926)

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LEAD STORIES, THURSDAY'S NYT

What We Know About the Fatal ICE Shooting in Minneapolis

Trump Says U.S. Oversight of Venezuela Could Last for Years

Hoisting Russian Flags, ‘Shadow Fleet’ Edges Into the Light

Kennedy Flips Food Pyramid to Emphasize Red Meat and Whole Milk

New Dietary Guidelines Abandon Longstanding Advice on Alcohol

The Robot Cars Have Come for the Kids

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

We have become a soundbite electorate. There are ways to feed curiosity, multiple sources to read, multiple opinions and possibilities to engage. We have lost the will to wrestle the difference between truth and fiction. We have lost the desire and ability to think independently. We seem determined to live our lives as children curled in the arms of daddy.

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MINNESOTA OFFICIALS DISPUTE FEDERAL ACCOUNT OF FATAL ICE SHOOTING

Federal officials said a woman was trying to kill agents with a car in Minneapolis. City and state officials called that account false, demanding an end to the immigration crackdown.

State and local officials demanded an end to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota after a federal officer shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

Details remained in dispute, with President Trump saying on social media that the agents had acted in self-defense, while state and local officials described federal accounts of the shooting with terms like “propaganda” and “garbage.”

Federal officials defended the use of force, saying the woman had “weaponized her vehicle” before being shot. At a news conference, Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, said the woman was “stalking” officers, and that the agent who killed her “used his training to save his life and those of his colleagues.”

Mayor Jacob Frey called the accounts of federal officials “bullshit,” describing the shooting instead as “an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.” Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota posted on social media, “Don’t believe this propaganda machine.”

Connor Janeksela, 30, who lives on the street where the shooting took place, described what he saw: “One of the ICE agents tried to rip her door open, and another one got in front of the vehicle and then shouted, ‘Stop!’ before firing three times within a second of saying, ‘Stop.’”

In his own news conference, the governor said the shooting was predictable. “We have been warning for weeks that the Trump administration’s dangerous, sensationalized operations are a threat to our public safety,” Mr. Walz said, adding that it cost a person her life on Wednesday.…

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01/07/us/minnesota-shooting-ice

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THE NARCO-TRAFFICKING ELITE SET TO RUN VENEZUELA

by Chris Hedges w/Maureen Tkacik

Marco Rubio’s personal ties to drug trafficking underscore a deep irony in the Trump administration’s attempts to use the drug war as a means of achieving their imperialist goals in Latin America.

History, as it’s understood in most Western countries, often misses important chapters that leave critical gaps in the story of how modern countries came to be. In Latin America in the 20th century, episodes of guerilla warfare and juntas are acknowledged, along with portrayals of a drug war, usually depicted through popular culture.

What is left out, however, is the clandestine involvement of American intelligence agencies, including the CIA and DEA, and how their drug operations were intimately tied to the Latin American anticommunist brigades funded by Western capital throughout the Cold War, and the brutal liquidation of the Left these narco-terrorists often carried out.

Maureen Tkacik, investigations editor at The American Prospect, joins host Chris Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report, to chronicle some of these missing chapters, including ones connected to the current Secretary of State and Acting National Security Advisor Marco Rubio.

In her article “The Narco-Terrorist Elite,” Tkacik dives into Rubio’s personal ties to the drug trafficking racket in the 20th century as well as how this history informs his own policy, one that attempts to cynically use drug trafficking as a means to achieving the Trump administration’s extrajudicial goals.

“When Marco Rubio maligns the efficacy of interdiction and other traditional law enforcement approaches to mitigating narco trafficking in favor of military operations, as he did in a recent speech on Trump’s speedboat bombings, he is contradicting every empirical evaluation of drug war efficacy that exists,” Hedges says.…

https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-narco-trafficking-elite-set-to

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