Jean-Bertrand Aristide (; born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former
Salesian priest and politician who became
Haiti
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
's first democratically elected president in 1991 before being deposed in
a coup d'état. As a priest, he taught
liberation theology and, as president, he attempted to normalize
Afro-Creole culture, including
Vodou religion, in Haiti.
Aristide was appointed to a parish in
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...
in 1982 after completing his studies to become a priest. He became a focal point for the pro-democracy movement, first under
Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier and then under the military transition regime which followed. He won the
1990–91 Haitian presidential election with 67% of the vote but was ousted just months later in the
September 1991 military coup. The coup regime collapsed in 1994 under U.S. pressure and threat of force (
Operation Uphold Democracy
Operation Uphold Democracy was a multinational military intervention designed to remove the military regime led and installed by Raoul Cédras after the 1991 Haitian coup d'état overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The op ...
), and Aristide was president again from 1994 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2004.
Aristide was ousted again in a
2004 coup d'état after right-wing ex-army paramilitary units invaded the country from across the
Dominican border. Aristide and many others have alleged that the United States had a role in orchestrating the second coup against him.
In 2022, numerous Haitian and French officials told ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''Â that France and the United States had effectively overthrown Aristide by pressuring him to step down, though this was denied by
James Foley, U.S. Ambassador to Haiti at the time of the coup.
After the second coup against him, Aristide went into exile in the
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. He returned to Haiti in 2011 after seven years in exile.
Background and church vocation
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was born into poverty in
Port-Salut,
Sud
Sud or SUD may refer to:
Places
* Sud (Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg constituency), a constituency in Luxembourg
* Sud (department), an administrative subdivision of Haiti
* Sud Department (Ivory Coast), defunct administrative subdivision of ...
on 15 July 1953. His father died three months after Aristide was born,
and he later moved to
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...
with his mother.
At age five, Aristide started school with priests of the
Salesian order.
He was educated at the
Collège Notre-Dame in
Cap-Haïtien, graduating with honors in 1974. He then took a course of novitiate studies in
La Vega, Dominican Republic, before returning to Haiti to study
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
at the Grand Séminaire Notre Dame and
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
at the
State University of Haiti.
After completing his post-graduate studies in 1979, Aristide travelled in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, studying in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, and at the
Cremisan Monastery in the town of
Beit Jala. He returned to Haiti in 1982 for his ordination as a
Salesian priest,
and was appointed
curate
A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...
of a small
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
in Port-au-Prince.
Between 1957 and 1986, Haiti was ruled by the
family dictatorships of
François "Papa Doc" and
Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. The misery endured by Haiti's poor made a deep impression on Aristide himself,
and he became an outspoken critic of Duvalierism. Nor did he spare the hierarchy of the country's church, since a 1966 Vatican Concordat granted Duvalier one-time power to appoint Haiti's bishops. An exponent of liberation theology, Aristide denounced Duvalier's regime in one of his earliest sermons. This did not go unnoticed by the regime's top echelons. Under pressure, the provincial delegate of the Salesian Order sent Aristide into three years of exile in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
.
By 1985, as popular opposition to Duvalier's regime grew, Aristide was back preaching in Haiti. His Easter Week sermon, "A call to holiness", delivered at the cathedral of Port-au-Prince and later broadcast throughout Haiti, proclaimed: "The path of those Haitians who reject the regime is the path of righteousness and love."
Aristide became a leading figure in the Ti Legliz movement, whose name means "little church" in
Kreyòl
Haitian Creole (; , ; , ), or simply Creole (), is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language spoken by 10 to 12million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it ...
. In September 1985, he was appointed to St. Jean Bosco church, in a poor neighborhood in Port-au-Prince. Struck by the absence of young people in the church, Aristide began to organize youth, sponsoring weekly youth Masses.
He founded an orphanage for urban street children in 1986 called ''Lafanmi Selavi''
amily is Life The program sought to be a model of participatory democracy for the children it served. As Aristide became a leading voice for the aspirations of Haiti's dispossessed, he inevitably became a target for attack. He survived at least four assassination attempts.
The most widely publicized attempt, the
St. Jean Bosco massacre, occurred on 11 September 1988, During the attempt over one hundred armed
Tontons Macoute wearing red armbands forced their way into St. Jean Bosco as Aristide began Sunday Mass. As army troops and police stood by, the men fired machine guns at the congregation and attacked fleeing parishioners with machetes. Aristide's church was burned to the ground. Thirteen people are reported to have been killed, and 77 wounded. Aristide survived and went into hiding.
Subsequently, Salesian officials ordered Aristide to leave Haiti, but tens of thousands of Haitians protested, blocking his access to the airport. In December 1988, Aristide was expelled from his Salesian order. A statement prepared by the Salesians called the priest's political activities an "incitement to hatred and violence", out of line with his role as a clergyman. Aristide appealed the decision, saying: "The crime of which I stand accused is the crime of preaching food for all men and women." In a January 1988 interview, he said "The solution is revolution, first in the spirit of the Gospel; Jesus could not accept people going hungry. It is a conflict between classes, rich and poor. My role is to preach and organize...."
In 1994, Aristide left priesthood, ending years of tension with the church over his criticism of its hierarchy and his espousal of liberation theology. Aristide married
Mildred Trouillot, on 20 January 1996, with whom he had two daughters.
First presidency (1991–96)
Following the violence at the aborted
national election of 1987, the
1990 election was approached with caution. Aristide announced his candidacy for the presidency. Following a six-week campaign, during which he dubbed his followers the "" (National Front for Change and Democracy, or FNCD), Aristide was elected president in 1990 with 67% of the vote in what is generally recognized as the first honest election in Haitian history. However, just eight months into his presidency he was overthrown by a
bloody military coup. He broke from FNCD and created the
Struggling People's Organization (OPL, Organisation Politique "Lavalas") – "the flood" or "torrent" in
Kréyòl. The coup d'état overthrowing Aristide occurred six weeks after the 200-year anniversary of
Bois Caïman, a Vodou ceremony during which Haitians planned the Haitian Revolution of 1791, which the Aristide government had commemorated at the National Palace.
A coup attempt against Aristide had taken place on 6 January, even before his inauguration, when
Roger Lafontant, a
Tonton Macoute
The Tonton Macoute () or simply the Macoute, was a Haitian paramilitary and secret police force created in 1959 by dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier. Haitians named this force after the Haitian mythological bogeyman, (" Uncle Gunnysa ...
leader under Duvalier, seized the provisional president
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot the first and only woman president. After large numbers of Aristide supporters filled the streets in protest and Lafontant attempted to declare martial law, the army crushed the incipient coup.
During Aristide's short-lived first period in office, he attempted to carry out substantial reforms, which brought passionate opposition from Haiti's business and military elite.
[ He sought to bring the military under civilian control, retiring the commander in chief of the army Hérard Abraham, initiated investigations of human rights violations, and brought to trial several Tontons Macoute who had not fled the country.][ He also banned the emigration of many well known Haitians until their bank accounts had been examined.][Collins, Edward Jr., Cole, Timothy M. (1996), "Regime Legitimation in Instances of Coup-Caused Governments-in-Exile: The Cases of Presidents Makarios and Aristide", ''Journal of International Law & Practice'' 5(2), p 219.] His relationship with the National Assembly soon deteriorated, and he attempted repeatedly to bypass it on judicial, Cabinet and ambassadorial appointments.[ His nomination of his close friend and political ally, René Préval, as prime minister, provoked severe criticism from political opponents overlooked, and the National Assembly threatened a no-confidence vote against Préval in August 1991. This led to a crowd of at least 2000 at the National Palace, which threatened violence; together with Aristide's failure to explicitly reject mob violence, this permitted the junta, which would topple him, to accuse him of human rights violations.][ The nomination of Marie-Denise Fabien Jean-Louis, a Duvalier-linked physician with no diplomatic experience, as ]minister of foreign affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
, also received significant opposition from many within the Lavalas movement.
1991 coup d'état
In September 1991 the army performed a coup against him ( 1991 Haitian coup d'état), led by army general Raoul Cédras, who had been promoted by Aristide in June to commander in chief of the army. Aristide was deposed on 29 September 1991, and after several days sent into exile, his life only saved by the intervention of U.S., French and Venezuelan diplomats. In accordance with the requirements of article 149 of the Haitian Constitution, Superior Court justice Joseph Nérette was installed as président provisoire to serve until elections were held within 90 days of Aristide's resignation. However, real power was held by army commander Raoul Cédras. High-ranking members of the Haitian National Intelligence Service (SIN), which had been set up and financed in the 1980s by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
(CIA) as part of the war on drugs, were involved in the coup, and were reportedly still receiving funding and training from the CIA for intelligence-gathering activities at the time of the coup, but this funding reportedly ended after the coup. The ''New York Times'' stated, "No evidence suggests that the C.I.A. backed the coup or intentionally undermined President Aristide." However, press reports about possible CIA involvement in Haitian politics before the coup sparked congressional hearings in the United States.
A campaign of terror against Aristide supporters was started by Emmanuel Constant after Aristide was forced out of power. In 1993, Constant, who had been on the CIA's payroll as an informant since 1992, organized the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haïti (FRAPH), which targeted and killed Aristide supporters.
Aristide spent his exile first in Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
and then in the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, working to develop international support. A United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
trade embargo during Aristide's exile, intended to force the coup leaders to step down, was a strong blow to Haiti's already weak economy. President George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
granted an exemption from the embargo to many U.S. companies doing business in Haiti, and president Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
extended this exemption.
In addition to this trade with the United States, the coup regime was supported by massive profits from the drug trade thanks to the Haitian military's affiliation with the Cali Cartel; Aristide publicly stated that his own pursuit of arresting drug dealers was one event that prompted the coup by drug-affiliated military officials Raul Cedras and Michel Francois (a claim echoed by his former secretary of State Patrick Elie). Representative John Conyers
John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929October 27, 2019) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. Conyers was the sixth-longest serving member of Congress and the lo ...
(D-Michigan) expressed concern that the only U.S. government agency to publicly recognize the Haitian junta's role in drug trafficking was the Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...
, and that, despite a wealth of evidence provided by the DEA proving the junta's drug connections, the Clinton administration downplayed this factor rather than use it as a hedge against the junta (as the U.S. government had done against Manuel Noriega
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno ( , ; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator and military officer who was the ''de facto'' List of heads of state of Panama, ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. He never officially serv ...
). Nairn in particular alleged that the CIA's connections to these drug traffickers in the junta not only dated to the creation of SIN, but were ongoing during and after the coup. Nairn's claims are confirmed in part by revelations of Emmanuel Constant regarding the ties of his FRAPH organization to the CIA before and during the coup government.
1994 return
Following large pro-Aristide demonstrations by Haitian expats (estimated over 60,000 demonstrators in New York City) urging Bill Clinton to deliver on his election promise to return Aristide to Haiti, U.S. and international pressure (including United Nations Security Council Resolution 940 on 31 July 1994), persuaded the military regime to back down and U.S. troops were deployed in the country by President Bill Clinton. On 15 October 1994, the Clinton administration returned Aristide to Haiti to complete his term in office.
Aristide received the 1996 UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Prize for human rights education.
Opposition (1996–2001)
In late 1996, Aristide broke from the OPL over what he called its "distance from the people" and created a new political party, the Fanmi Lavalas
Fanmi Lavalas (; ''lavalas'' is Haitian Creole for 'avalanche' or 'flood'
) is a social-democratic political party in Haiti. Its leader is former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It has been a powerful force in Haitian politics since 199 ...
. The OPL, holding the majority in the Sénat and the Chambre des Députés
The Chamber of Deputies (, ) was the lower house of parliament in France at various times in the 19th and 20th centuries:
* 1814–1848 during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, the Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the Fr ...
, renamed itself the Organisation du Peuple en Lutte, maintaining the OPL acronym.
Fanmi Lavalas won the 2000 legislative election in May, but a handful of Senate seats were allocated to Lavalas candidates that critics claimed should have had second-round runoffs (as the votes of some smaller parties were eliminated in final vote counts, which had also been done in earlier elections). Critics argue that FL had not achieved a first-round majority for this handful of senate seats. Critics also charge that Fanmi Lavalas controlled the Provisional Election Commission which made the decision, but their criticism is of a vote count technique used prior in Haiti history. Aristide then was elected later that year in the 2000 presidential election, an election boycotted by most opposition political parties, now organised into the Convergence Démocratique. Although the U.S. government claimed that the election turnout was hardly over 10%, international observers saw turnout of around 50%, and at the time, CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
reported a turnout of 60% with over 92% voting for Aristide. The Bush administration in the U.S. and Haitian expatriate opposition leaders in Florida would use the criticism over the election to argue for an embargo on international aid to the Haitian government.
Second presidency (2001–2004)
In 2003, Aristide called for France, the former colonizer of the country, to pay $21 billion in restitution to Haiti for the 90 million gold francs supplied to France by Haiti in restitution for French property, including enslaved people, that was appropriated in the Haitian rebellion, over the period from 1825 to 1947.
2004 overthrow
It has been alleged that after his return to power in 2001, Aristide increasingly relied on street gangs to enforce his will and to terrorize his political opponents. After the murder of Amiot Métayer, the leader of the pro-Aristide Lame Kanibal (Cannibal Army) gang in the Raboteau slum in the northern city of Gonaïves in September 2003, Métayer's partisans, believing that Aristide had ordered his killing, rose up against the president. On 5 December 2003, organized pro-Aristide forces committed and encouraged violent attacks and threats against University of Port-au-Prince students protesting against Aristide.
In early 2004, the Cannibal Army was joined in its fight against the government by former military and police, many of whom had been in exile in the Dominican Republic and who had been launching cross-border raids since 2001. The paramilitary campaign was headed by ex-police chief Guy Philippe and former FRAPH death squad
A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings, massacres, or enforced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in w ...
founder Louis Jodel Chamblain. In February 2004, pro-Aristide forces were accused of committing a massacre in the city of Saint-Marc.
The rebels soon took control of the North, and eventually laid siege to, and then invaded, the capital. Under disputed circumstances, Aristide was flown out of the country by the U.S. with assistance from Canada and France on 28 February 2004. Aristide and his bodyguard, Franz Gabriel, stated that he was the victim of a "new coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
or modern kidnapping" by U.S. forces. Mrs. Aristide stated that the personnel who escorted him wore U.S. Special Forces uniforms, but changed into civilian clothes upon boarding the aircraft that was used to remove them from Haiti. Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
n prime minister P. J. Patterson released a statement saying "we are bound to question whether his resignation was truly voluntary, as it comes after the capture of regions of Haiti by armed insurgents and the failure of the international community to provide the requisite support. The removal of President Aristide in these circumstances sets a dangerous precedent for democratically elected governments anywhere and everywhere, as it promotes the removal of duly elected persons from office by the power of rebel forces." Meanwhile, National Palace security agent Casimir Chariot said that Aristide left of his own free will. Aristide's Prime Minister, Yvon Neptune, also said that Aristide's resignation was genuine.
After Aristide was flown out of Haiti, looters raided his villa. Most barricades were lifted the day after Aristide left as the shooting had stopped; order was maintained by Haitian police, along with armed rebels and local vigilantes. Almost immediately after the Aristide family was transported from Haiti, the prime minister of Jamaica, P. J. Patterson, dispatched a member of parliament, Sharon Hay-Webster, to the Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...
. The leadership of that country agreed that Aristide and his family could go to Jamaica. The Aristide family remained on the island for several months until the Jamaican government gained acceptance by the Republic of South Africa for the family to relocate there.
Aristide later claimed that France and the U.S. had a role in what he termed "a kidnapping" that took him from Haiti to South Africa via the Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...
. However, authorities said his temporary asylum there had been negotiated by the United States, France and Gabon
Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...
. On 1 March 2004, U.S. congresswoman Maxine Waters, along with Aristide family friend Randall Robinson, reported Aristide had told them that he had been forced to resign and had been abducted from the country by the United States and that he had been held hostage by an armed military guard. According to Waters, Mildred Aristide called her at her home at 6:30 am, informing her that "the coup d'etat has been completed". She also stated how Jean-Bertrand Aristide claimed the U.S. embassy in Haiti's chief of staff came to his house and threatened that he, alongside many other Haitians would be killed if he did not resign. Aristide's letter, which is described as his resignation, does not actually contain Aristide clearly and officially resigning. Representative Charles Rangel
Charles Bernard Rangel ( ; June 11, 1930 – May 26, 2025) was an American politician who served as United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for districts in New York City for 46 years. A member of the Democratic Party (Unite ...
, D-New York, expressed similar words, saying Aristide had told him he was "disappointed that the international community had let him down" and "that he resigned under pressure" – "As a matter of fact, he was very apprehensive for his life. They made it clear that he had to go now or he would be killed." When asked for his response to these statements Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...
said that "it might have been better for members of Congress who have heard these stories to ask us about the stories before going public with them so we don't make a difficult situation that much more difficult" and he alleged that Aristide "did not democratically govern or govern well". CARICOM, an organization of Caribbean countries that included Haiti, called for a United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
investigation into Aristide's removal, but were reportedly pressured by the U.S. and France to drop their request. Some observers suggest the rebellion and removal of Aristide were covertly orchestrated by these two countries and Canada.[
In 2022, Thierry Burkard, the French ambassador to Haiti at the time, told the '']New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' that France and the United States had effectively orchestrated a coup against Aristide by forcing him into exile. In response to this, James Brendan Foley, U.S. Ambassador to Haiti at the time of the coup, called these claims untrue, stating that it was never U.S. policy to remove Aristide. He said that Aristide had requested a U.S. rescue and that the decision to dispatch a plane to carry him to safety had been agreed upon following night-time discussions at the behest of Aristide.
In a 2006 interview, Aristide claimed the United States reneged on compromises he made with it over the privatization of enterprises to ensure that part of the profits from those enterprises would be distributed to the Haitian population and then relied on a disinformation campaign to discredit him.[
]
Exile (2004–2011)
After being cast into exile, in mid-2004 Aristide, his family, and bodyguards were welcomed to South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
by several cabinet ministers, 20 senior diplomats, and a guard of honor. Receiving a salary from and provided staff by the South African government, Aristide lived with his family in a government villa in Pretoria. In South Africa, Aristide became an honorary research fellow at the University of South Africa
The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...
, learned Zulu, and, on 25 April 2007, received a doctorate in African languages.
On 21 December 2007, a speech by Aristide marking the new year and Haiti's Independence Day was broadcast, the fourth such speech since his exile; in the speech he criticized the 2006 presidential election in which Préval was elected, describing it as a "selection", in which "the knife of treason was planted" in the back of the Haitian people.
Since the election, some high-ranking members of Lavalas have been targets for violence. Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, a leading human rights organizer in Haiti and a member of Lavalas, disappeared in August 2007. His whereabouts remain unknown and a news article states: "Like many protesters, he ilson Mesilien, coordinator of the pro-Aristide 30 September Foundationwore a T-shirt demanding the return of foundation leader Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, a human rights activist and critic of both U.N. and U.S. involvement in Haiti who disappeared in August."
Return to Haiti
In a confidential 2008 United States embassy cable, former U.S. ambassador to Haiti Janet Sanderson emphasized that: "A premature departure of MINUSTAH would leave the aitiangovernment...vulnerable to...resurgent populist and anti-market economy political forcesreversing gains of the last two years. MINUSTAH is an indispensable tool in realizing core USG .S. governmentpolicy interests in Haiti."
At a meeting with U.S. State Department officials on 2 August 2006, former Guatemalan diplomat Edmond Mulet, then chief of MINUSTAH, urged U.S. legal action against Aristide to prevent the former president from gaining more traction with the Haitian population and returning to Haiti.
At Mulet's request, UN Secretary General
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...
urged South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
’s president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...
to ensure that Aristide remained in the country.
U.S. ambassador James Foley wrote in a confidential 22 March 2005 cable that an August 2004 poll "showed that Aristide was still the only figure in Haiti with a favorability rating above 50%".
After René Préval, a former ally of Aristide, was elected president of Haiti in 2006, he said it would be possible for Aristide to return to Haiti.
On 16 December 2009, several thousand protesters marched through Port-au-Prince calling for Aristide's return to Haiti, and protesting the exclusion of Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party from upcoming elections.
On 12 January 2010, Aristide sent his condolences to victims of the earthquake in Haiti just a few hours after it occurred, and stated that he wished to return to help rebuild the country.
On 7 November 2010, in an exclusive interview (the last given before his return to Haiti) with independent reporter Nicolas Rossier in ''Eurasia Review'' and the ''Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...
'', Aristide declared that the 2010 elections were not inclusive of his party, Fanmi Lavalas, and therefore not fair and free. He also confirmed his wishes to go back to Haiti but stated that he was not allowed to travel out of South Africa.
In February 2011, Aristide announced that he would return to Haiti within days of the ruling Haitian government removing impediments to him receiving his Haitian passport. On 17 March 2011, Aristide departed for Haiti from his exile in South Africa. U.S. president
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Barack Obama
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had asked South African president Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...
to delay Aristide's departure to prevent him from returning to Haiti before a presidential run-off election scheduled for 20 March. Aristide's party was barred from participating in the election, and the U.S. feared his return could be destabilizing. On Friday, 18 March 2011, he and his spouse arrived at Port-au-Prince Airport, and were greeted by thousands of supporters. He told the crowd waiting at the airport: "The exclusion of Fanmi Lavalas is the exclusion of the Haitian people. In 1804, the Haitian revolution marked the end of slavery. Today, may the Haitian people end exiles and coups d’état, while peacefully moving from social exclusion to inclusion."
Post-exile (2011–present)
After Aristide returned to Haiti in 2011, he abstained from political involvement. On 12 September 2014, Aristide was ordered under house arrest by Judge Lamarre Belzaire while under a corruption investigation. Aristide's lawyers and supporters of Fanmi Lavalas questioned the legality of the judge's order under Haitian law as well as the judge's impartiality.
During the elections of 1991 and 2000 of Aristide and the 1995 and 2006 elections of Rene Preval, the turnout of the total voting population hovered at around 60–70%. In the years following the 2010 earthquake, turnout in elections dropped significantly to 20%. During this period, the right-wing rose to power, with mass voter disenfranchisement. In late 2016 Aristide, for the first time in many years, returned to electioneering, touring the country to promote Fanmi Lavalas candidates; the election results (decried by his party as illegitimate) returned to power right-wing forces in the country, with only a 20% voter turnout.
Accomplishments
Under president Aristide's leadership, the Haitian government implemented many major reforms. These included greatly increasing access to health care and education for the general population, increasing adult literacy and protections for those accused of crimes, improving training for judges, prohibiting human trafficking
Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...
, disbanding the Haitian military, establishing an improved climate for human rights and civil liberties, doubling the minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...
, instituting land reform and assistance to small farmers, providing boat construction training to fishermen, establishing a food distribution network to provide low cost food to the poor at below market prices, building low-cost housing, and reducing government corruption.
Achievements in education
During successive Lavalas administrations, Jean-Bertrand Aristide and René Préval built 195 new primary schools and 104 secondary schools. Prior to Aristide's election in 1990, there were just 34 secondary schools nationwide. Lavalas also provided thousands of scholarships so that children could afford to attend church/private schools. Between 2001 and 2004, the percentage of children enrolled in primary school education rose to 72%, and an estimated 300,000 adults took part in Lavalas sponsored adult literacy campaigns. This helped the adult literacy rate rise from 35% to 55%.
Achievements in health care
In addition to numerous educational advances, Aristide and Lavalas embarked on an ambitious plan to develop the public primary health care system with Cuban assistance. Since the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Georges in 1998, Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
entered a humanitarian agreement with Haiti whereby Haitian doctors would be trained in Cuba, and Cuban doctors would work in rural areas. At the time of 2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...
, 573 doctors had been trained in Cuba.
Despite operating under an aid embargo, the Lavalas administration succeeded in reducing the infant mortality rate as well as reducing the percentage of underweight newborns. A successful AIDS prevention and treatment program was also established, leading the Catholic Institute for International Relations to state: the "incredible feat of slowing the rate of new infections in Haiti has been achieved despite the lack of international aid to the Haitian government, and despite the notable lack of resources faced by those working in the health field".
Disbanding the army and paramilitary units – the Fad'H, Tonton Macoutes, and Attaches
The Lavalas political project has long been dedicated to promoting a civilian police force and disbanding the long-time tools of elite repression in Haiti which have been the country's brutal military and paramilitary forces. The government under Aristide launched the first trial of paramilitary death squads and successfully jailed many after aired on Haitian public television trials of FAdH [Sprague, Jeb. "Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti". ''Monthly Review Press'', 2012.] and FRAPH members involved in massacres of civilians.
Trials were held bringing to justice a handful of wealthy individuals from among Haiti's upper class that had financed paramilitary death squads, including individuals such as Judy C. Roy (who has acknowledged her financing of the FLRN death squads) of whom held close ties with the former dictators Raoul Cedras and Jean-Claude Duvalier. Reforming the country's security services though posed a constant problem for Lavalas, as the U.S. sought to undermine these reform efforts by seeking to re-insert its right-wing allies into the police force. The Lavalas government also faced a lack of resources, due to cuts in aid to Haiti with US policies under the first presidency of George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
. Meanwhile, there was continued prevalence of corruption in connection with the drug trade.
Criticism
Accusations of human rights abuses
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
accused the Haitian police force under Aristide and his political supporters of attacks on opposition rallies. They also said that the emergence of armed rebels seeking to overthrow Aristide reflected "the failure of the country's democratic institutions and procedures". According to a study by researcher Jeb Sprague, the armed rebel paramilitary units received vital support from a handful of Haitian elites, Dominican governmental sectors, and foreign intelligence. The undermanned Haitian police faced difficulties in repelling cross-border attacks led by the ex-army paramilitary rebels.
Videos surfaced showing a portion of a speech by Aristide on 27 August 1991, occurring just after military personnel and death squad members attempted to assassinate him, in which he says "Don't hesitate to give him what he deserves. What a beautiful tool! What a beautiful instrument! What a beautiful piece of equipment! It's beautiful, yes it's beautiful, it's cute, it's pretty, it has a good smell, wherever you go you want to inhale it." Critics allege that he was endorsing the practice of "necklacing
Necklacing is a method of extrajudicial summary execution and torture carried out by forcing a rubber tire drenched with gasoline around a victim's chest and arms, and setting it on fire. The term "necklace" originated in the 1980s in black t ...
" opposition activists, placing a gasoline-soaked tire around a person's neck and setting the tire ablaze; others argue he was actually speaking about people using the constitution to empower themselves and to defend their country against right-wing death squads. Earlier in the speech he is quoted as saying "Your tool in hand, your instrument in hand, your constitution in hand! Don't hesitate to give him what he deserves. Your equipment in hand, your trowel in hand, your pencil in hand, your Constitution in hand, don't hesitate to give him what he deserves."
Although there were accusations of human rights abuses, the OAS/UN International Civilian Mission in Haiti, known by the French acronym MICIVIH, found that the human rights situation in Haiti improved dramatically following Aristide's return to power in 1994. Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
reported that, after Aristide's departure in 2004, Haiti was "descending into a severe humanitarian and human rights crisis". BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
correspondents say that Aristide is seen as a champion of the poor, and remains popular with many in Haiti. Aristide continues to be among the most important political figures in the country, and is considered by many to be the only really popular, democratically elected leader Haiti has ever had. Yet his second administration was targeted for destabilization and is remembered as a time of great difficulty of many.
Accusations of corruption
Some officials have been indicted by a U.S. court.
Companies that allegedly made deals with Aristide's government included IDT, Fusion Telecommunications, and Skytel; critics claim the first two companies had political links to Aristide. AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
reportedly declined to wire money to "Mont Salem". Aristide's supporters say corruption charges against the former president are a deliberate attempt to keep a popular leader from running in elections.
Views
In 2000, Aristide published '' The Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization,'' which accused the World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
and the International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
of working on behalf of the world's wealthiest nations rather than in the interest of genuine international development. Aristide called for "a culture of global solidarity" to eliminate poverty as an alternative to the globalization
Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...
represented by neocolonialism
Neocolonialism is the control by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony) through indirect means. The term ''neocolonialism'' was first used after World War II to refer to ...
and neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...
.
Aristide is known for organizing popular resistance to the Duvalier dynasty
The Duvalier family (French language, French: ''Dynastie des Duvalier''; Haitian Creole: ''Dinasti Duvalier'') was an Autocracy, autocratic hereditary dictatorship in Haiti that lasted almost 29 years, from 1957 until 1986, spanning the rule of ...
as a priest, and saw it a Christian duty to oppose the privilege of the rich oligarchy and social injustice of capitalism. He commented on his actions: "I acted as a theologian in order to guide a political struggle: the irruption of the poor on the social scene." While sometimes described as communist, Aristide himself argues that his view are of Catholic rather than Marxist inspiration, but also clarified that Marxist writings are valuable and were used by him among other political philosophies. Aristide followed the principle of class struggle, which he saw as undeniable reality: "I did not invent class struggle. Neither did Karl Marx. I would have preferred never to meet it. This may be possible if one never leaves the Vatican or the heights of Petionville chic Haitian suburb In the streets of Port-au-Prince, who has not met class struggle? It is not a topic for controversy, but a fact, based on empirical evidence."
Publications
* (With Laura Flynn) ''The'' ''Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization'', Common Courage Press, 2000.
* ''Dignity'', University of Virginia Press, 1996; translated from ', Éditions du Seuil
Éditions du Seuil (), also known as Le Seuil, is a French publishing house established in 1935 by Catholic intellectual Jean Plaquevent (1901–1965), and currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The ''seuil'' (th ...
, 1994.
* ''Névrose vétéro-testamentaire'', Editions du CIDIHCA, 1994.
* ''Aristide: An Autobiography'', Orbis Books, 1993.
* ', Éditions du Seuil
Éditions du Seuil (), also known as Le Seuil, is a French publishing house established in 1935 by Catholic intellectual Jean Plaquevent (1901–1965), and currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The ''seuil'' (th ...
, 1992.
* ', Editions du CIDIHCA, 1992.
* (With Amy Wilentz) ''In the Parish of the Poor: Writings from Haiti'', Orbis Books, 1990.
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aristide, Jean-Bertrand
1953 births
Living people
20th-century presidents of Haiti
Catholic socialists
Exiled politicians
Struggling People's Organization politicians
Fanmi Lavalas politicians
Haitian Christian socialists
Haitian Roman Catholic priests
Haitian exiles
Haitian revolutionaries
Haitian socialists
Laicized Roman Catholic priests
Leaders ousted by a coup
Liberation theologians
Salesians of Don Bosco
University of South Africa alumni
1990s in Haiti
2000s in Haiti
20th-century Haitian politicians
21st-century Haitian politicians