Since its establishment, the nation of Haiti has been struggling with a plethora of issues ranging from political unrest, to extreme poverty, to natural disasters. The struggles continued even after 1990, where Haiti held their first democratic election and elected former Catholic Priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide as President
On this day September 29th, in 1991 President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti is thrown out from power in a coup d’état. After only 8 months in office and after surviving a coup attempt before his inauguration, Aristide is removed from his position in the government by Army General Raoul Cedras.
Haiti has been having political issues going back a few hundred years when the French controlled the island. It’s for this reason Haitians speak French. After much diplomatic intervention on behalf of the United States, Venezuela and France, Aristide’s life was spared and he was sent into exile until his return to Haiti in 1994. He was then reelected President, only to have his government destabilized and overthrown by another coup in 2004.