Author Archives: verdecente

  In the summer of 1968, the United States of America witnessed numerous protests against the Vietnam War that were heavily repressed. Some took place in Chicago in August, during the Democratic Party convention to choose a new candidate. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy had been assassinated, and thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to demand the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam. The police response left hundreds injured and about 600 arrested. Richard Nixon’s conservative government, with … Read more

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will hold a leaders’ summit in less than a month, on July 7 and 8, 2026, in the Turkish capital, Ankara. This meeting takes place against a backdrop of internal disagreements over Ukraine and unprecedented pressures to increase military spending above the historic 2% of GDP. Meanwhile, various social groups are preparing counter-summits to denounce the warmongering escalation and subordination to the imperialist interests of American and European military expansionism, serving the interests of … Read more

On June 1989, one day after the violent military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests, an anonymous man stood in front of a column of tanks on Chang’an Avenue in Beijing. The scene was photographed by several international photojournalists and became one of the most recognizable images of the 20th century. The photograph of “Tank Man” came to symbolize nonviolent direct action and civil resistance against military force. The protests had begun weeks earlier with the participation of students, workers, … Read more

The birth, development and spread of large corporations, which carry in their DNA a contempt for human rights and the environment, constitute the engine driving current consumption. The essay/documentary short film ‘Ilha das Flores’ (1989), directed by Brazilian filmmaker Jorge Furtado, materializes this critique through the journey of a simple tomato to a landfill in Porto Alegre. In 13 minutes, the work turns the production, distribution and consumption chain into a stark metaphor for capitalism and the social inequalities it … Read more

On 17, 18 and 19 April, activists from ECOAR))) took part in the second germination of the Revoltes de la Terra, in Bages, Barcelona. A mobilisation of thousands of people from different collectives, a gathering of the environmental, pro-Palestinian and territorial defence movements. A mass mobilisation to confront the company ICL (Israel Chemicals Limited), which is causing an ecocide in Catalonia and collaborating with the genocide in Gaza. On Saturday 17th, the protest saw hundreds of activists sabotage a long … Read more

The Chilean song that emerged before Pinochet’s 1973 coup and spread from the Seattle Battle to the Arab Spring In June 1973, in Chile, the political situation was unsustainable. Marches, pot-banging protests, and strikes foreshadowed a dramatic outcome. In this context, composer Sergio Ortega gathered with the band Quilapayún to fulfill a commission from the Central Committee of the Communist Party: to create songs that supported Salvador Allende’s Popular Unity government. Between a curanto in the garden and Brahms’ chords, … Read more

Between 19 and 22 July 2001, the Italian city of Genoa became the epicentre of the anti-globalization struggle. The meeting of G8 (Group of Eight) leaders triggered an unprecedented civic response, convened by the Genoa Social Forum, a platform that brought together around 800 organizations of different kinds. Estimates speak of between 200,000 and 300,000 people arriving from across Europe to take part in the counter-summit, at a time when the movement was at the height of its momentum. The … Read more

The Corporation (2003) is a Canadian documentary directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott, with a screenplay by Joel Bakan, which examines the legal and ethical nature of large corporations. The film is structured around a provocative hypothesis: if corporations are considered legal persons, what kind of personality do they exhibit? Drawing on the criteria of the DSM-IV and the contributions of specialist Robert D. Hare, it argues that the structural behavior of the modern corporation aligns with traits characteristic … Read more

Understanding the differences between these four concepts allows a more rigorous analysis of social and political processes. In political and media discourse, terms such as revolution, rebellion, reform, and coup d’état are often used imprecisely or interchangeably. Knowing their precise meaning allows people to form an informed opinion and interpret historical and contemporary events beyond ideological labels. Revolution is a profound and radical change in the political, social, and economic structures of a community, usually involving broad popular participation and … Read more

 Personal or institutional dependence on technological tools from corporations like Google and Microsoft constitutes a structural threat that goes beyond individual privacy. These companies operate through extractive models that commodify personal data, restrict interoperability, and create dependency through proprietary confinement or “vendor lock-in,” making it practically impossible to switch to another service provider. When using proprietary software, control over sensitive information is surrendered. Imposed updates modify functionalities without consent, algorithms manipulate behavior, and security breaches expose data to third parties. … Read more