A short history of Haiti
Saint-Domingue becomes de facto independent in 1804 as the Empire of Haïti. Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaims himself emperor as Jacques I, but his increasingly oppressive rule provokes his assassination (1806) and the country's division between the rival regimes of Henri Christophe in the north and Alexandre Petion in the south. In 1811 Christophe proclaims himself king, reigning as Henri I, but after his suicide in 1820 Haiti is reunited under Pétion's successor Jean Pierre Boyer, president until 1843. The independence is recognized in 1825 by France. Between 1822 and 1844 Santo Domingo is incorporporated into Haiti. In 1849 Haiti becomes an empire named Empire of Haiti, but the republican order is restored in 1859. Political life is dominated by instable governments, coups, occupations by the United States, seccesions and revolutions. The United States intervenes in 1915. Following a 19-year occupation, United States military forces are withdrawn in 1934 and Haiti regains sovereign rule. During this US occupation Philippe Sudre Dartiguenave (1915-1922), Eustache Antoine François Joseph Louis Borno (1922-1930), Louis Eugène Roy (1930) and Sténio Joseph Vincent (1930) become president. Vincent remains president when the US withdraws its troops.
Vincent takes advantage of the comparative national stability to gain absolute power. He brutally represses his opposition, censors the press and governs largely to benefit himself and a clique of merchants and corrupt military officers. Under US pressure Vincent hands over power in 1941 to Elie Lescot. His power resides in a clique that rules with the tacit support of the army. He also represses his opponents. In 1946 the army forces him to resign. A military junta takes over. This leads to an elected parliament that year and in presidential elections Dumarsais Estimé is elected. This is a break with Haiti's political tradition. He demonstrates, at least initially, a genuine concern for the welfare of the people. His reform policy leads to a coup in 1950 and the ruling by a military junta. When Haiti announces that its first direct elections (all men twenty-one or over were allowed to vote) would be held in 1950, Paul Eugène Magloire resignes from the junta and is elected president. He restores the elite to prominence. There is a stable but very corrupt government. After strikes and civil unrest Magloire has to flee the country in 1956. From 1956 to 1957 three provisional presidents hold office. In new elections in 1957 François Duvalier (1957) of the Parti de l'Unité National (National Unity Party, PUN) scores a decisive victory. This leads to the emergence of a repressive and corrupt regime combining violence against political opponents with exploitation of the traditional religious practices commonly known as "voodoo". Duvalier (known as Papa Doc) proclaims himself president for life in 1964. He bequeaths power to his son Jean-Claude Duvalier ("Baby Doc") at his death in 1971.
From 1986, when the 29-year dictatorship of the Duvalier family ends, until 1991, Haiti is ruled by a series of provisional governments. The 1987 constitution provides for an elected, bicameral parliament and an elected president. Widespread protests against repression force Baby Doc to flee Haiti in 1986. A military junta, headed by Henri Namphy and Williams Regala, takes power. In 1988 the christian democrat Leslie-François Manigat of the christian-democratic Rassemblement Démocratique Progressiste et National (National and Progressive Democratic Rally, RDPN) is elected in military-run elections boycotted by most candidates. Later that year he is overthrown in a military coup by Namphy, who on his turn is overthrown by Prosper Avril. In 1990 Avril is convinced to resign. Ertha Pascal-Trouillot becomes provisional president and at the end of the year the elections are won by Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a charismatic roman catholic priest, leader of the Front National pour le Changement et la Démocratie (National Front for Change and Democracy, FNCD). He becomes president in 1991. These elections are deemed by international observers largely free and fair. Aristide becomes president in 1991, but is overthrown later that year in a violent coup led by dissatisfied elements of the army and supported by many of the country's economic elite. Aristide goes into exile. From 1991 to 1994 an unconstitutional military de facto regime governs Haiti. The UN Security Council authorizes member states to use all necessary means to facilitate the departure of Haiti's military leadership and to restore Haiti's constitutionally elected government to power. The United States takes the lead in forming a multinational force to carry out the UN's mandate by means of a military intervention. President Raoul Cedras is forced to abdicate and Aristide returns to office. The 1995 parliamentary elections are won by the Orhanisation Politique Lavalas (Water Fall Political Organization, OPL). Aristide is succeeded by his ally Rene Preval in what is Haiti's first-ever transition between two democratically elected presidents. Aristide leaves the OPL and starts a new party the Fanmi Lavalas (Water Fall Family, FL). The OPL renames itself into the Organisation de Peuple en Lutte (Organization of Struggling People, OPL). A crisis between both parties starts. During this gridlock period, the government is unable to organize parliamentary elections due in 1998. In 1999 Preval dismisses legislators whose terms has expired and starts to rule by decree, establishing a cabinet composed almost entirely of FL partisans. Under pressure from the opposition new parliamentary elections are held in 2000. These elections lead to a new parliament dominated by the FL, though the results are disputed. The following presidential elections are boucotted by the opposition parties, allied in the Convergence Democratique (Democratic Convergence, CD). In elections wit an estimated 5 % turnout, Aristide is elected president. From that moment on rebels become active and government violence increases. The mandates of the members of parliament and all but 15 members of the senate expired in 2003, leaving Haiti effectively without a legislature and entitling Aristide to rule by decree. In 2004 rebels seize major cities and under this and international pressure Aristide was forced to leave the country, and claimed he was kidnapped by the Bush administration on February 29, 2004. Gerard Latortue who was leaving in Florida was taken to Haiti by American Forces to become Interim Prime Minister. Boniface Alexandre became interim president.
