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1920-00-00

1920-00-00: (The National Palace Completed Under U.S.

Haitian

1920-00-00: (The National Palace Completed Under U.S. Supervision, the Physical Symbol of Haitian Sovereignty Rebuilt by the Foreign Power That Had Dissolved Haitian Sovereignty): In 1920, the National Palace in Port-au-Prince was completed under U.S. supervision, replacing the structure destroyed in the 1912 explosion that killed President Leconte. The palace was the official residence and office of the Haitian president, but during the occupation it was a theater of puppet governance: a Haitian figurehead sat in the president’s chair while American officials made the decisions. The completion of the palace under American supervision was a precise metaphor for the occupation itself: the structures of Haitian statehood maintained in appearance while their substance was controlled by a foreign power. The palace would stand until the 2010 earthquake destroyed it, along with much of Port-au-Prince and along with whatever remained of the illusion that Haiti’s physical infrastructure could survive the geological forces that lay beneath the island.