1990 Presidential elections in Haiti

ended with the victory of Jean-

Bertrand Aristide, a leftist
charismatic Roman Catholic
priest who won 67% of the vote
He took office on February 7,
1991
He appointed as commander in
chief of the Haitian armed forces
Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, who on
September 30,1991 started a
military coup
An unconstitutional regime was
created Cedras acted as a main
leader
By the beginning of 1992,
American Coast Guard picked
up around 14,000 Haitians at sea
and the flow of refugees started
to cause a problem


2
In 1993 Raoul Cedras, head of the Haitian
armed forces, signed the UN Governors
Island Agreement which promised
restoration of constitutional government
and the return of President Aristide by
October 1993
This agreement also said that Cedras and
other people involved in the coup will be
retired
Cedras ignored the agreement and the
flood of refugees started to increase
3
The promise was not made and the UN decided to put
economic sanctions on Haiti
The consequences were deterioration of human rights and
political situation in the country
American president, Bill Clinton, saw that the agreement
will not be followed so he sent a group of forces needed
to help Haiti to accomplish the promise
The ship with those forces came to Haiti in October 1993
and upon arrival was attacked by an armed crowd
Haiti leaders refused to assure security to American forces,
which made Clinton to order the ship not to do anything
until further notice
This was seen as a humiliating political decision for
American president Clinton

4
Clinton was pushed to start the
intervention because of the pressure
coming from his own voters (not only
because of the international community)
flow of illegal immigrants into the United
States was seen as a threat that needs to
be stopped and also a big number of
African-American voting population
wanted the US to intervene and bring
the dictatorship in Haiti to an end

5
the U.S.-led Multinational Intervention
for Haiti began on September 19,
1994
From the start, the plan went as
scheduled and most of the operation
was staged fom Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba
The Operation included a
peacekeeping force of more than
20,000 military personnel of the U. S.
armed forces
Their mission was to restore the
legitimate government and create a
secure environment for the people of
Haiti
Over 5,000 non-U.S. forces from 24
nations assisted in this peacekeeping
mission

6
Clinton provoked American Congress
because he did not ask for a permission
to sent the troops to Haiti
His justification was that he has executive
powers to command the army
American Congress passed resolution
saying that the President should have
sought congressional approval before
deploying such forces
1


1 http://www.loc.gov/search/?q=haiti+resolution (Accessed May9th

2014)

7
UPHOLD DEMOCRACY was successful in
restoring democracy, bringing Aristide
back and in stopping the big number of
people emigrating from Haiti
General Cedras was forced to leave
Operation officially finished On March
31, 1995 when the United States gave
the peacekeeping responsibilities to
United Nations functions


8
For the members of the Congress, action in
Haiti represented a violation of the presidents
position
This made the relations between legislative
and executive power more strained

This intervention can be seen both as a
success and a failure
To some the US army was successful because
the junta left and democracy was restored
Still, social and political situation didnt
significally change
This can be seen on the contemporary Haiti
example where human rights are often been
neglected and corruption in politics is
flourishing
9
Allen, J. William, Crisis in Haiti: Operation Uphold Democracy
http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100125-093.pdf

Global Security, Operation Uphold Democracy
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/uphold_democracy.htm

Kaufman, Joyce P. A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy, Banja Luka:
Centar za Meunarodne odnose, 2010

Kretchik, E. Walter, Baumann, F. Robert, Fishel, T. John Invasion, Intervention,
Intervasion: A Concise History of the U.S. Army in the Operation Uphold
Democracy, Kansas: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Press, 2008

Library of Congress, H.J.Res.416 - 103rd Congress (1993-1994) - Limited
Authorization for the United States-led Force in Haiti Resolution
http://www.loc.gov/search/?q=haiti+resolution

Wikipedia, Operation Uphold Democracy,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Uphold_Democracy

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