Editing Jean-Bertrand Aristide (section)

=== 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 [[Deposition (politics)|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.<ref>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&nbsp;199.</ref> 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]].<ref name="coup">{{Cite news|date=1 October 1991 |title=Leader of Haiti Ousted Military Takes Over After Seizing Aristide |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |format=reprint |url=http://bailey83221.livejournal.com/99074.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110185707/http://bailey83221.livejournal.com/99074.html |archive-date=10 November 2012 }}</ref> High-ranking members of the Haitian [[Service d'Intelligence National|National Intelligence Service]] (SIN), which had been set up and financed in the 1980s by the U.S. [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (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.<ref name="weiner">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/14/world/cia-formed-haitian-unit-later-tied-to-narcotics-trade.html?pagewanted=1|author2=Time Weiner|title=C.I.A. Formed Haitian Unit Later Tied to Narcotics Trade|newspaper = New York Times |date=14 November 1993 |first1=Howard W. |last1=French |access-date=6 May 2010}}</ref> The ''New York Times'' stated, "No evidence suggests that the C.I.A. backed the coup or intentionally undermined President Aristide."<ref name="weiner"/> However, press reports about possible CIA involvement in Haitian politics before the coup sparked congressional hearings in the United States.<ref name="LATimes11021993">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-02-mn-52438-story.html|author=Jim Mann|title=Congress to Probe CIA-Haiti Ties|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2 November 1993}}</ref>

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.<ref name="LATimes11021993"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/cia-helped-to-set-up-terror-group-in-haiti-1441438.html|author=Rupert Cornwell|title=CIA 'helped to set up terror group' in Haiti|newspaper=The Independent|date=7 October 1994 | location=London}}</ref><ref name=weisbrot>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/undermining-haiti/ |author=Mark Weisbrot |title=Undermining Haiti |journal=The Nation |date=22 November 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117012458/https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/undermining-haiti/ |archive-date=17 January 2022}}</ref>

Aristide spent his exile first in [[Venezuela]] and then in the [[United States]], working to develop international support. A [[United Nations]] 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19930827/1717922/un-ready-to-end-haiti-sanctions----security-council-expected-to-suspend-oil-arms-embargo|author=Victoria Graham|title=UN Ready To End Haiti Sanctions|newspaper=The Seattle Times|date=27 August 1993}}</ref> President [[George H. W. Bush]] granted an exemption from the embargo to many U.S. companies doing business in Haiti, and president [[Bill Clinton]] extended this exemption.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19941103/1939459/poorly-enforced-sanctions-botch-us-embargo-of-haiti|author=Sydney P. Freedberg, Rachel L. Swarns|title=Poorly Enforced Sanctions Botch U.S. Embargo of Haiti|newspaper=The Seattle Times|date=3 November 1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19940218/1895987/americans-step-up-business-with-haiti-despite-sanctions----humanitarian-exemption-lets-trade-increase|author=Carl Hartman|title=Americans Step Up Business With Haiti Despite Sanctions|newspaper=The Seattle Times|date=18 February 1994}}</ref>

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]] (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]], 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]]). 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.{{cn|date=June 2024}}