Invasion on Demand: The Second U.S. Invasion of Haiti (October 1993–October 1994)

Abstract

The embargo imposed immense financial hardships on Haitians after it was resumed in October 1993 in the aftermath of the Harlan County incident, but Aristide continued to live comfortably in his Washington exile. With the exception of the Vatican, the international community refused to recognize the Cédras regime; so Aristide had access to the Haitian government’s overseas assets that were frozen after the 1991 coup, to which were added all debts owed his country and ATT offsets from international phone calls to Haiti. Taiwan, which has been locked in a diplomatic war with Communist China since 1949, also wrote million dollar checks in exchange for Haiti’s continued support at the United Nations. Finally, Aristide received substantial cash donations from members of the Diaspora and received royalties on his many books. The total amount exceeded $50 million.