After a long and difficult day of negotiations with Haiti's military rulers in September 1994, former President Jimmy Carter excused himself from dinner with some Haitian business people, withdrew to his hotel suite, and began typing the first draft of what later became the American agreement for the dissolution of Haiti's military regime. Carter never cleared his proposal with President Clinton. For that matter, the White House did not even know it existed until the following morning, almost half a day after Carter offered the proposal to the Haitian military. By then, Lieutenant General Raoul Cedras had already accepted the proposal as a basis for agreement. The transition from military to civilian rule had begun under uncertain terms.
The purpose of this research is to examine the events that led up to the Haitian crisis and the United States/Haitian agreement that now serves as the framework for civilian rule. A brief discussion of Haiti's unique social history will help set the stage for understanding the political instability of the country. An analysis of the relationship between the United States and Haiti further depicts some additional obstacles to civilian government and presents the interests and likely problems of the United States in establishing a Haitian democracy.
Haiti's socio-political development has historically run through cycles of stagnation and oppression marked by explosively violent clashes. Conflicts between the privileged elite and impoverished masses of Haiti never ended. The nation's founder Jean-Jacques Dessalenes, who led the Haitian revolution against French occupation, remained loyal to the egalitarian spirit that marked his independence movement. But his assassination in 1806 typified the degree of dissent running through Haitian society and the deepness of animosity between Haiti's economic classes. During the period of French colonialism of Haiti, which originally began with the ...