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Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
Has the US played a role in destabilizing the democratic process in Haiti?
Thursday, February 11, 2021
By Lauralei Singsank
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YES
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.
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Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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