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Last Tuesday, December 8, water began to trade on the New York Stock Exchange. The futures contracts linked to the spot price (cash price) of water have begun to be the result of speculation in the Wall Street market1. Thereby, it will be traded in a similar way to gold and oil. At the moment, this stock index, NQH20, only trades the water of five areas of California2. Although there are already other antecedents of water rights speculation3, the fact … Read more

On September 8, the German government commissioner for Africa, Günter Nooke, announced in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung his country’s intention to source “green” hydrogen from the Democratic Republic of the Congo1. For this, a new large dam on the Congo River, the Inga 3, would have to be built. In its construction there are Chinese and European interests2,3. The Congo is a country that suffered harsh colonization4, which continues to be the victim of extensive plunder by foreign nations and … Read more

The Organic Law of Data Protection and Digital Rights (LOPD)1, approved on last November 21st, adapts to spanish law the regulations of the General Regulation of Data Protection of the European Parliament2, dealing with issues related to internet privacy. Thanks to the title X of this law Spain will become pioneer in recognition of many digital rights, although the majority are amplifications of rights which are already recognized in other laws or applications of basic worldwide digital rights. Nevertheless it … Read more

The National Security Council, in its meeting on October 6, 2020, approved the Procedure for action against disinformation, published on November 5 in BOE-A-2020-136631. Given that the Procedure was questioned from the first moment, the Presidency of the Government published a clarifying press release2, although it is not binding. This Procedure does not have the force of law, and is only an update of another one already in force. It links with two basic documents of the European Commission: the … Read more

The approval of the 2021 budget in Guatemala, at 5:30 in the morning of Wednesday, November 18, caused a massive protest in the country, with more than 10,000 protesters. The protest, initially peaceful, ended with fires in the Parliament building, in addition to 37 detainees and 22 people injured1. These mobilizations take place just five years after the massive demonstrations that removed then-President Otto Pérez Molina2 from power, and are a sample of what happens when austericidal recipes are followed … Read more

On November 10, the President of the Peruvian State, Martín Vizcarra, resigned after the Congress declared him “permanently morally incapacitated”1. Instead, Manuel Merino de Lama2 took office, generating the largest protests of the last 20 years in a country3 fed up with the maneuvers of the political class4. After only 5 days in office, forced by social protests, Merino resigned5. Finally, the politician of the Purple Party, Franciso Sagasti6, assumed the Headquarters of the State. The prime minister will be … Read more

Ethiopia is going through a complex political situation with external conflicts and strong internal racial tensions. The rise to power of Abiy Ahmed Ali1, leader of the Prosperity Party, seemed to initiate a democratic and peace process throughout the country, with the release of prisoners and the legalization of political groups2. However, two years later, this process could not be further from its objectives. The country has more than 80 different ethnic groups and religions, with great conflicts among them. … Read more

On November 22, an atypical G20 Summit ended, held virtually with the presidency of Saudi Arabia. Once again, it brought together the leaders of the main economic powers in the world and the European Union, as well as 14 international organizations. The summit ended without major progress beyond the commitment to fund vaccination against COVID19 of impoverished countries1. Despite the importance acquired in recent years by the G20 as a deliberative space in international politics and economics2, this year the … Read more

Once again Black Friday is approaching, that consumerism party imported from the United States that will take place on November 27 and whose limits are increasingly blurred, with “anticipated offers” advertised massively by all the media for several weeks in advance. As always, since its arrival in Spain in 2010, it will promote excessive and unnecessary consumption at the expense of the needs created for people and the well-being of the planet. This day generates a lot of expectation among … Read more

On November 3, the fifty-ninth presidential elections took place in the United States. The standoff was between the Republican candidate and outgoing president, Donald Trump, against the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, among others. The latter won, with 51% of the votes, compared to 47.1% for Trump1 (data as of 11/24/20). Trump’ presidency, in power since January 2017, was disastrous when it came to human rights. Some of his decisions, or consequences of these, were: Policies of separation of migrant children … Read more