The U.S. has a 200-plus year history of intervening in Haitian affairs:
- Although Haiti declared independence in 1804, the U.S. refused to acknowledge this until 1862 yet continued to conduct trade with Haiti on unfavorable terms.
- In 1915, the Marines invaded Haiti and occupied it for the next 19 years.
- In 1991, a military coup whose leaders included Haitians on the CIA payroll ousted Haiti’s first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
- In 1994, the U.S. staged an intervention to return Aristide to power in exchange for U.S.-friendly trade reforms.
- In 2000, the U.S. government froze development aid to Haiti to protest Aristide.
- In 2004, the U.S. backed a coup that removed Aristide from power and replaced him with an unelected prime minister flown in from Florida.
- In 2009 and 2010, the U.S. provided financial and political support for unlawful elections in Haiti.