On 29 February 2004, Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a right-wing military coup, which was backed by the United States and France, the former colonial power.
Aristide had previously been president on two other occasions, and made himself unpopular with powerful factions of the establishment. He upset: the army by trying to bring them under civilian control; the rich by bringing in measures to prevent wealth being plundered from the country; and the former French colonial power by demanding restitution for the ransom extorted from Haiti in the 19th and 20th centuries after they overthrew slavery. Aristide’s government also introduced various progressive reforms, doubling the minimum wage, subsidising food for the poor and building huge numbers of schools and hospitals.
On February 29, Aristide stepped down and was flown into exile by US security officials. He claims he was kidnapped, which is denied by the US, although US diplomat Luis Moreno did acknowledge that the US and France orchestrated the coup.
In the aftermath of the coup, a multinational military force was sent in to back up the government of the new, pro-western president. Countries sending troops included the US, France, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Jordan, Nepal and Uruguay.
Haiti coup - WCH | Stories
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