Jean Bertrand Aristide: The US Involvement In Haiti

In 1915, after the assassination of Haitian President Vibrun Guillaume Sam, who ordered the killings of 167 political prisoners, the United States began a 19 year occupation in Haiti to protect US business. Before the US occupation, Haiti had been subjected to the foreign rule of the Spanish, and then later the French. The Spanish believed they were not gaining from the relationship, and the country was passed over to the French as if it were a baton in a relay race as opposed to an Island that contained other human beings. Unlike the Spanish, the French gained more from ruling over Haiti, which was then known as Saint Domingue. The colony, which was slave based was soon producing sugar and coffee at a very successful rate. Fed up with the oppression and exploitation by the French, a violent slave uprising occurred, and Haiti became the first free black republic in the world in 1804. This however did not end foreign involvement in Haiti’s political affairs. In 1994 US involvement in Haiti continued when U.S President Bill Clinton sent 20,000 troops to help reinstall the first democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was …show more content…
Aristide
Haiti’s unstable economy is another facet of Haitian society that suffered and continues to suffer as a result of foreign occupation and 3 decades of authoritarian rule. Haiti’s economy was devastated in the 30s and the 40s as a result of having to use 40% of its national income to pay back debt to the United States and France (cite). Also under the rule of Papa Doc and Baby Doc, money was embezzled by government officials why Haitian citizens starved.
Before the notorious earthquake of 2010, Haiti was one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemis

As a result of the unstable government, Haitians, especially those who live in the rural areas are engulfed in