1994, September 19 – October 10: (The Second Occupation Begins at 9:30 A.M.

1994, September 19 – October 10: (The Second Occupation Begins at 9:30 A.M. Monday: Troops in Full Battle Gear Startled by Thousands of Cheering Haitians at the Airport Fence, General Shelton Nicknamed Shelltox After Haiti’s Most Efficient Pesticide, the Haitian Army Melts into Civilian Clothes Leaving Barracks Empty, Evans Paul Emerges from Three Years in Hiding, Flights Bearing Legislators Home Compete with C-130s for Ramp Space, Pandemonium When Haitians Discover Some of These Blan Speak Creole and Are Women, Rules of Engagement Modified After Police Beat Protesters While U.S. Soldiers Stand By — What Is Your Job? To Intimidate the Populace — the Cafétéria Occupied, Fifty Special Forces Bivouac in the Casernes Dessalines Where Rifles Are Less Useful Than Mops, FRAPH Headquarters Raided October 4 and 60,000 Pages Spirited Away, Toto Constant Revealed as a CIA Informant, Michel François Decamps to the Dominican Republic Renting His House to the Dominican Ambassador, Parliament Votes Amnesty Limited to Political Matters, Graffito on the Palace Sentry Booth — Americans in Haiti for Fifty Years, Cédras Steps Down October 10 with Shelton by His Side, You Are Taking Away a Thief and Leaving Another, and Both Generals Fly to Panama): The first American troops landed at Port-au-Prince’s civilian airport at the relatively civilized hour of 9:30 A.M. Monday. Disgorged in full battle gear from army choppers, the soldiers, fierce and combat-ready, were startled to see thousands of cheering Haitians pressed against the airport fence — Port-au-Prince was clearly not going to be Kuwait City. In the vanguard was Lieutenant General Henry H. Shelton, Commander of the American troops in Haiti — Haitians quickly nicknamed him Shelltox after Haiti’s most efficient pesticide. While his troops were setting up camp at the eastern end of the runway and in nearby structures that had in better days housed assembly factories, General Shelton conferred with Ambassador Swing before being driven to Military Headquarters near the palace to discuss with General Cédras the logistics of landing and billeting some 15,000 American troops — the meeting was described as cordial. Over the next few days troops landed at the Cap and fanned out across the country; in many cases there was no one to surrender to them — the Haitian army had for the most part shifted into civilian clothes and tried to melt back into the population, leaving barracks and government buildings empty. Port-au-Prince Mayor Evans Paul emerged from hiding for the first time in three years, as did thousands of others. At the airport, still closed to civilian traffic, flights bearing legislators home from exile in the U.S. competed with C-130 cargo planes for ramp space — the U.S. was determined that there would be the necessary quorum in parliament to enact whatever legislation was necessary. Haitians watched with awe as tent cities went up with miraculous speed; pandemonium erupted when it was discovered that some of these blan — the term startled the non-Creole-speaking black troops, but not those of Haitian descent — not only spoke Creole but also were women. Under rules of engagement announced by the Pentagon, U.S. troops were not to interfere in Haitian-on-Haitian violence — the rules were quickly modified after several well-publicized incidents in which Haitian police beat protesters while U.S. soldiers stood by. The fact that the American troops were in effect working with the very people they had set out a few days before to conquer was the cause of more than a little unhappiness. For Port-au-Prince the defining moment came with the occupation of the hated Cafétéria by U.S. troops — crowds milled outside hurling insults at the few Haitian policemen inside, between them a thin line of MPs keeping the peace. Penetrating to the holy of holies, fifty Special Forces men bivouacked alongside Haitian army troops in the Casernes Dessalines, where their rifles were of less use than wrenches and mops needed to clean up the fetid barracks and get the showers and toilets functioning. On October 4, U.S. troops raided FRAPH headquarters, arresting a number of people and taking the opportunity to spirit away some 60,000 pages of documents, fearful perhaps that some might be embarrassing to the U.S. — this last matter was not revealed to the public for nearly a year. What was revealed quickly, fueling the worst suspicions of those who felt the U.S. had had a hand in the 1991 coup, was that Toto Constant had been on the CIA’s payroll in Port-au-Prince as an informant for several years. Michel François decided to decamp for the Dominican Republic just after the FRAPH raid, taking care before leaving to arrange the rental of his house to the Dominican ambassador. Shortly thereafter, parliament voted the amnesty called for in the Carter agreement, limiting it however to political matters. On one of the white sentry booths on the northeast corner of the palace, someone spray-painted a graffito that read: Americans in Haiti for fifty years. On October 10, 1994, in a ceremony outside army headquarters, Raoul Cédras stepped down — the porticoed building was surrounded by U.S. troops and just beyond them thousands of Haitians jeered the man they viewed as responsible for so much misery. With General Shelton by his side, Cédras passed the flag of command to Jean-Claude Duperval; several in the crowd shouted to Shelton that he was taking away a thief and leaving another. A thrown rock shattered the rear window of Cédras’s car as he left with a U.S. escort, but shots fired in the air by U.S. troops quickly restored order. Arrangements had been put in place to have both men fly to Panama before Aristide’s return.