Haiti

Click a letter for the index

Or search the encyclopaedia:

 

 

Go

 

Country in the Caribbean, occupying the western part of the island of Hispaniola; to the east is the Dominican Republic.

Government
The 1950 constitution was revised in 1957, 1964, 1971, 1983, 1985, and 1987. The 1987 constitution provides for a 27-member senate and an 83-member chamber of deputies, all popularly elected, as well as a ‘dual executive’ of a president and prime minister sharing power, based on the French model. The president is elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term and appoints a prime minister on the basis of assembly support. The prime minister chooses a cabinet in consultation with the president.

History
The island of Hispaniola was once inhabited by Arawak Indians who had died out by the end of the 16th century owing to conquest, warfare, hard labour, and diseases brought in by the Europeans after the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. The island was made a Spanish colony under the name of Santo Domingo, but the western part was colonized by France from the mid-17th century. In 1697 the western third of the island was ceded to France by Spain.

Independence achieved
The period 1790–1804 was fraught with rebellions against France, tension among blacks, whites, and mulattos, and military intervention by France and Britain. In one such rebellion, in 1791, the island was taken over by slaves, under Toussaint L'Ouverture, and slavery was abolished, but it was then reinstated after he was captured and imprisoned by the French. After independence in 1804 the instability continued, with Santo Domingo repossessed by Spain and then by Haiti, and self-proclaimed kings ruling Haiti. In 1844 Haiti and the Dominican Republic became separate states. During the late 19th century Haiti suffered from growing economic and political instability. Several leaders were ousted and murdered.

Duvalier era
Friction between Haitians of African descent and mulattos, and the country's political instability, brought a period of US rule 1915–34. US Marines dissolved the assembly in 1918 and imposed a constitution that permitted foreigners to buy land. In the 1940s and 1950s there were several coups, the last occurring in 1956, which resulted in Dr François Duvalier being elected president. After an encouraging start, his administration degenerated into a personal dictatorship, maintained by a private army, the Tontons Macoutes. In 1964 ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier made himself president for life, with the power to nominate his son as his successor.

On his father's death 1971 Jean-Claude Duvalier came to the presidency at the age of 19 and soon acquired the name of ‘Baby Doc’. Although the young Duvalier repeatedly promised a return to democracy, there was little change. In the 1984 elections about 300 government candidates contested the 59 seats, with no opposition at all. In 1985, political parties were legalized, provided they conformed to strict guidelines, but only one party registered, the National Progressive Party (PNP), which supported Duvalier's policies. He was overthrown and exiled to France in 1986.

Democratization failed
The new military regime led by Lt-Gen Henri Namphy offered no protection to the electoral council, and the US government withdrew aid. Elections in November 1987 were sabotaged by armed gangs of Duvalierists who massacred voters and set fire to polling stations and to vehicles delivering ballot papers in the country. Leslie Manigat, with army support, was made president in February 1988 but four months later was ousted in a coup led by Namphy, who was in turn replaced by Brig-Gen Prosper Avril in a coup in September 1988. Avril installed a largely civilian government, but the army was still in control and a coup attempt in April 1989 was quickly put down. Early in 1990 opposition to Avril grew, but was suppressed. Acting president Ertha Pascal-Trouillot defied calls for her resignation, but elections were held in December 1990. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a Catholic priest, won a landslide victory and in February 1991, as president, dismissed the entire army high command, with the exception of Gen Hérard Abraham, who had earlier permitted Haiti's first free elections.

Aristide ousted
A military coup, led by Brig-Gen Raoul Cedras, overthrew Aristide in September 1991. In the following month, the army appointed Joseph Nerette as interim president, with Jean Jacques Honorat as prime minister. There was international condemnation of the coup and economic sanctions were imposed against Haiti, but all efforts to reinstate Aristide failed. Nerette's term of office was extended indefinitely.

Foreign sanctions
In early 1992 the USA began to modify its 1991 sanctions, but the Organization of American States increased its sanctions in May 1992. Marc Bazin replaced Honorat as prime minister in June 1992, but resigned June in 1993 after a disagreement with the military, at which point a United Nations (UN) embargo was imposed.

Aristide's return blocked
UN-sponsored talks between military leaders and Aristide led in July 1993 to an agreement under which Aristide might return to Haiti on condition that an amnesty was granted to coup leaders. International sanctions were lifted in August after the chamber of deputies accepted Robert Malval, Aristide's nominee, as prime minister, but in October 1993 the military blocked Aristide's return. The UN immediately resumed its embargo, and froze Haiti's foreign assets. Malval resigned in December 1993, but agreed to remain in office until a successor was found. In May 1994 Emile Jonassaint, a pro-military Supreme Court judge, was appointed by the coup's leader, Brig-Gen Raoul Cedras, to replace Nerette as president.

Aristide returns
In September 1994 an opposed invasion of Haiti by US forces was averted after an agreement, brokered by former US president Jimmy Carter, was reached with the island's military leaders. The USA landed 15,000 troops without bloodshed, insisting that Haiti adopt a ‘structural adjustment programme’ of privatizing assets, removing trade tariffs, and not raising the minimum wage. The FRAPH death squads were not disarmed, and US aid was targeted to counter nationalist and revolutionary movements. In October Cedras, who had agreed to relinquish power in return for an amnesty, withdrew into exile in Panama. In the same month, President Aristide returned. He gave up his priesthood to concentrate on the presidency, and nominated Michel Smarck as premier. An electoral commission was appointed to organize free elections, and in March 1995 US troops handed over to a UN peacekeeping force, which was to oversee the island's ‘more complete transition to democracy’. Prior to their arrival, there had been concern over a breakdown of law and order, after several political assassinations. The pro-Aristide Lavalas Political Organization coalition won the June and September 1995 legislative elections, amid opposition claims of electoral fraud. Claudette Werleigh was appointed premier in November, and the following month René Préval, a Lavalas candidate, was elected president. In February 1996, in the first peaceful handover to an elected president since independence, Preval succeeded Aristide.

After disagreements between Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party and the previously pro-Aristide Lavalas Political Organization, the latter changed its name to the Organization du Peuple en Lutte (OPL; French for Organization of People in Struggle), but continued to support President Préval. In July 1998 the education minister, Jacques Edouard Alexis, was nominated by Préval to become prime minister.

Dissolution of parliament and fresh elections
Repeated conflict between parliament and President Préval led him to dissolve it in January 1999, and following this, there was effectively no democracy. Legislative elections which were due in 1999 were repeatedly postponed and no budget was approved. In March 2000, the electoral council overruled the president and announced a general election. The president of the electoral court, Leon Manus, refused to approve irregular results in the congressional election which took place in May 2000, and fled to the USA. After a second round of elections held in July, but boycotted by the opposition, Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas (FL) party won almost 90% of the seats. Presidential elections, boycotted by the opposition, were held in November, and won by Aristide, who took office in February 2001. He appointed Jean-Marie Chérestal as prime minister. The opposition set up an (internationally unrecognized) alternative government. In June, Aristide agreed to hold new parliamentary elections. In return, the Organization of American States (OAS) said it would help Haiti obtain US$500 million of suspended aid.

In March 2002 Yvon Neptune of the FL became prime minister, and included in his cabinet Marc Bazin of the Movement of the Institution of Democracy in Haiti (MIDH), who was instrumental in negotiating a settlement with opposition parties during the disputed elections of 2000.

At the start of 2004, a rebellion against Aristide forced him into exile, and an interim government took over. General elections were finally held in February 2006, in which former president René Préval was returned to power, with Jacques-Édouard Alexis as his prime minister.

Yellow stands for mineral wealth. Green represents the country's vegetation and natural resources. Red recalls the blood spilt during the liberation struggle. Effective date: 18 April 1980. >>