Puerto Ricans Fight Back Against Water Rationing and Privatization amid Severe DroughtThe government of Puerto Rico is rationing water in San Juan and other major cities as a severe drought continues to worsen, with no immediate relief expected. Since August 7, more than 180,000 customers are facing 48-hour water interruptions under a rotating schedule, as the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (AAA) and the island’s government work to address the escalating crisis. July was the driest month ever recorded in San Juan in more than 120 years, and the capital’s fourth-hottest July. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, nearly a quarter of Puerto Rico is currently facing severe drought, while an additional 36 percent is experiencing moderate drought. The drought is intensifying, but thousands of Puerto Ricans had already been dealing with water shortages, with some communities going without reliable water for up to a year. Many residents have been denouncing that the infrastructure that supplies water and is under AAA surveillance has not received adequate maintenance for decades, causing 60 percent of the water to be lost. But Puerto Rico’s water crises cannot be separated from its colonial status, the authority the United States has over the island, and complicit political parties.
https://www.leftvoice.org/puerto-rico-water-rationing-privatization/ SKP leader exposes the limits of Swedish democracy: “A democracy for the establishment parties” With less than a month to go before Sweden’s 2026 general election, Communist Party of Sweden (SKP) chairman Andreas Sörensen has denounced what he described as a political system designed to protect the established parliamentary parties and marginalize forces that challenge capitalism. Speaking in Stockholm on August 15, Sörensen argued that Sweden’s much-praised democracy rests on deeply unequal conditions. Parties that surpass 1% in a parliamentary election receive publicly funded ballot papers distributed nationwide, while smaller parties must finance and distribute their own. Parties above 2.5% also receive substantial state funding, while the 4% threshold for entering parliament further shields the established political forces.
Post too long. Click here to view the full text.