United Nations General Assembly Hall -- Mojnsen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Guillermo R. Barreto This month, like every year, the United Nations General Assembly takes place. Heads of State take the floor to send messages to the world. These messages are broadcast on TV, transcribed, and recorded in official documents and the press. We have heard denunciations of violations of international law, calls for peace and coexistence, and also cynical remarks from leader

Haitian monument honouring the battle By Guillermo Barreto This year marks the 222nd anniversary of the Battle of Vertières. It took place on November 18 south of Le Cap, in what was then known as Saint Domingue. In that battle, which lasted five hours, Napoleon Bonaparte’s elite troops were defeated by battalions of former slaves led by Jean Jacques Dessalines, who consolidated the independence of what would henceforth be called Ayti or Haiti. Haiti is always mentioned in th