1991-09-30: (Raoul Cédras Overthrows Aristide in a Military Coup, Seven Months Into the First Democratic Presidency in Haitian History, Inaugurating Three Ye…
1991-09-30: (Raoul Cédras Overthrows Aristide in a Military Coup, Seven Months Into the First Democratic Presidency in Haitian History, Inaugurating Three Years of Military Rule, Political Murder, and International Sanctions): On September 30, 1991, Lieutenant General Raoul Cédras, the light-skinned mulatto military commander whom Aristide himself had appointed, led a military coup that overthrew the president after just seven months in office. Several thousand political dissidents were killed under the military regime. Tens of thousands of Haitians attempted to flee to the United States by boat, but the American government refused to grant them refugee status. President George H. W. Bush suspended economic and military aid on October 1 and trade sanctions on October 29, excluding food and medicine. The Organization of American States imposed economic sanctions. The United Nations imposed an oil and arms embargo in June 1993. The sanctions devastated the Haitian economy, and as with every external economic punishment inflicted on Haiti, the suffering fell disproportionately on the poorest, who had the least to do with the coup and the most to lose from its consequences.