A History of Foreign Intervention

Haiti faced Spanish and then French colonization leading up to independence in 1804. Spanish conquerors decimated the indigenous Taino population. France extracted an untold amount of Haiti's natural wealth. Under the French regime, a minute ruling class violently ruled Haiti's enslaved population.

After Haiti declared independence, diplomatic recognition was slow in coming, isolating the young nation and leaving it victim to competing foreign powers. Ironically, France, after plundering its former colony, offered recognition in exchange for a massive indemnity. From 1857-1900, in order to protect American business interests, the U.S. intervened militarily nineteen times.

In 1915, the U.S. marines occupied Haiti. That occupation lasted until 1934. The marines ruled autocratically, killing thousands of Haitians during its tenure. In 1957, the U.S. supported François Duvalier, who initiated the most brutal period in independent Haitian history. Papa Doc, as he was known, ruled until his death in 1971, when his 19-year old son took power with U.S. ships in sight of the ceremony. The vicious Duvalier regime lasted until 1986.

In 1994, the U.S. intervened militarily once again, ostensibly to promote democracy, but some have argued that it was a cynical attempt by the Clinton administration to show strength abroad after failures in Somalia and inaction in Bosnia and Rwanda.

Haitian governments have always assumed that their legitimacy depends on the favor of the United States and not its own people. Thus, Haiti's illiteracy rate has wavered between 80-90% because the government doesn't have to answer to the people, it must answer to the U.S. A large wave of Haiti's professionals and technicians class fled during the U.S.-backed Duvalier dynasty.

While the tenor and form of racism against Haitians have changed over the last 200 years, racism remains. Military interventions were justified by arguing that Haitians were unintelligent enough to rule their own affairs. Their belief in Vodou has been used to reinforce this perception of savagery. Nowadays, Haitians searching for freedom in the U.S. by boat are turned away. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere because of this legacy of violence and racism. (International Edition)