Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected to a five-year term as President of Haiti on December 16,1990, in what is widely regarded as Haiti's first free and fair elections. He was inaugurated onFebruary 7, 1991, raising hopes that Haiti would leave behind its authoritarian past. Eight monthslater, on September 30, 1991, Aristide was overthrown in a violent military coup. His ouster usheredin the seventh government since the downfall of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986. Aristide was elected president with approximately 67.5% of the vote, and was inauguratedon the fifth anniversary of the collapse of the 29-year Duvalier dictatorships. To his supporters,Aristide was a martyr, willing to risk his life to defend the poor. An advocate of "liberationtheology," Aristide spoke out against Duvalier and the military rulers who followed him. InSeptember 1988, an armed group attacked and burned Aristide's church, killing 13 and wounding70; surrounded by his parishioners, Aristide escaped unharmed. To his detractors, Aristide was apotentially dangerous demagogue, whose inflammatory oratory they maintained encouraged therampages, known as "dechoukajes," or uprooting in Creole, in which suspected Tontons Macouteswere attacked or killed by angry mobs. Aristide reportedly denies that his book, 100 Verses ofDechoukaj , condones violence. Nonetheless, the Salesian religious order expelled him for preachingpolitics from the pulpit, including what the order called "class struggle." When Aristide became a candidate, he toned down his revolutionary and anti-U.S. rhetoric. A 37-year-old populist Roman Catholic priest, he was the most controversial of 11 candidates ruledeligible to run by the independent Provisional Electoral Council. Aristide previously opposeddemocratic elections in Haiti, arguing that free and fair elections were impossible as long asDuvalierists still had a hold on economic and political power. Nonetheless, he joined the race inresponse to former Tontons Macoutes chief Roger Lafontant's potential candidacy. Some observers believed that, when first in office, Aristide helped to polarize the situationin Haiti, by refusing to condemn violent acts of retribution, and holding out the threat of mobviolence against those who disagreed with him. For example, Aristide at that time refused tocondemn the practice of "Pere Lebrun", or burning someone to death with a tire necklace. Hereportedly said that the practice was not barred by the constitution, and that, although he wouldeventually like to see the practice discontinued, its elimination was conditional on the eradicationof corruption. After the former head of the Tontons Macoutes was put on trial and sentenced to lifein prison, Aristide gave a speech in which he noted that without popular pressure and threat of "perelebrun" in front of the courthouse, the life sentence -- which is unconstitutional -- would not havebeen given. (1) (2) In exile, Aristide condemnedthe practice of necklacing. (3) (4) The coup began just four days after Aristide addressed the United Nations, an event he saidmarked the end of Haiti's dark past of dictatorship. When he returned to Haiti, Aristide gave aspeech that observers viewed as threatening the bourgeoisie for not having helped his governmentenough. Some saw it as another factor leading to his overthrow days later, and say that members ofthat elite financially supported the coup leaders. There were at least 300 coup-related deaths,according to the State Department, but over 1500 according to Amnesty International. President Aristide was faced with some of the most serious and persistent social, economic,and political problems in the hemisphere. After eight months in office, Aristide had received mixedreviews. He was credited with curbing crime in the capital, reducing the number of employees inbloated state enterprises, and taking actions to bring the military under civilian control. Someobservers questioned the government's commitment to democracy, however. Neither Aristide norhis prime minister belonged to a political party, and leaders of other political parties criticized himfor not reaching out and establishing a spirit of cooperation among the democratic elements. Manylegislators, including some from Aristide's own coalition, protested the president's appointment ofSupreme Court judges and ambassadors without consulting the Senate as required by theconstitution. Aristide later agreed to consult the legislature, but relations between the two branchesremained strained. President Aristide was also criticized for his attitude toward the judicial system. FormerTontons Macoutes chief Roger Lafontant was tried in July for his role in the failed January 1991coup attempt. Aristide called for a life sentence -- which Lafontant received -- though theconstitution limited sentences to 15 years. Aristide declared the next day a national holiday. Manyobservers expressed concern over the trial, saying it differed little from trials under the Duvaliers --it lasted for over 20 consecutive hours, important witnesses were not called, and the court appointedfive lawyer trainees to defend Lafontant because even his own lawyer felt it too dangerous to defendhim. Initially criticized for not having a clear economic development plan, by July the Aristidegovernment presented a macroeconomic reform and public sector investment plan to representativesof several nations and international lending institutions, who lauded the plan and pledged $440million in FY1992 aid. Most of that aid was suspended because of the coup that overthrew Aristide'sgovernment. (For more information, see CRS Report 93-931 , Haiti: Background to the Overthrowof President Aristide ; CRS Report 94-852, Haiti: Chronology of Its Troubled Path TowardDemocracy. ) The overthrow of Haiti's first democratically elected president in September 1991 propelledHaiti into its worst crisis since protests brought down the 29-year dictatorship of the Duvalier familyin 1986. The leaders of the coup faced stronger international sanctions than did previous coupleaders in Haiti, largely because a democratic government was overthrown. The United States,France and Canada, Haiti's largest foreign aid donors, suspended all aid to the Haitian government,as did Venezuela and the European Community (EC). Most international aid to Haiti had been onlyrecently renewed, having been cut off when the 1987 elections were thwarted. Within two days ofthe coup, the Organization of American States (OAS) had demanded Aristide's immediatereinstatement; after meeting resistance from several powerful Haitian sectors, the OAS then imposeda trade embargo in early October 1991. For more than three years, the regime resisted international demands that Aristide be restoredto office. A week after sending President Aristide into exile, the military, led by General Cedras,pressured the legislature into appointing a figurehead president and prime minister. The regimeblocked a February 1992 OAS-sponsored agreement between Haitian legislators and Aristide thatcalled for his eventual return, and then proposed an alternative agreement that made no mention ofAristide. In June 1992, the government installed Marc Bazin, a conservative economist and Aristiderival, as prime minister, whereby the interim president stepped down, leaving the presidency vacantand Bazin to form a government. The OAS became frustrated because neither the embargo nor diplomatic initiatives broughtabout a return to constitutional rule. The European Community could not agree on an embargo, andcontinued to ship goods to Haiti. Sporadic oil shipments, some at first linked to OAS members, thenfrom Europe, kept the country fueled. The embargo, however, did have a significant effect on Haiti'salready impoverished population. According to one humanitarian assistance organization operatingin Haiti, the situation after the coup deteriorated from extreme poverty to a state of virtual faminein some parts of the country. The OAS's frustration lead to the involvement of the United Nations. Special Envoy DanteCaputo, representing both the U.N. and the OAS, began discussions in December 1991. These leadto the posting of an OAS/U.N. civilian observer mission to oversee the restoration of order andmonitor human rights conditions. As the de facto Haitian government resisted the call for Aristide's return, the internationalcommunity responded with increased sanctions. On November 24, 1992, the U.N. GeneralAssembly adopted a resolution urging member states to impose a trade embargo on Haiti as calledfor by the OAS in October 1991. On June 4, 1993, President Clinton imposed new sanctions,targeted at the Haitian leadership, and on June 23, the U.N. imposed a world-wide oil and armsembargo. These new sanctions, coupled with the resignation of Prime Minister Bazin on June 8,created the conditions for a new round of talks. In late June, Caputo held talks with both PresidentAristide and military chief General Cedras on Governors Island in New York. Although the two mendid not meet face to face, they signed an agreement which called for Cedras' resignation andAristide's return by October 30, 1993. (See Box, below, for details of agreement.) Soon after sanctions were suspended, a small minority opposed to Aristide's return escalatedtheir efforts to undermine the accord with politically motivated violence, including the murders ofa prominent Aristide supporter and his justice minister. Caputo and others blamed police chiefMichel Francois for much of the renewed violations of human rights. In October 1993,the U.N.,OAS, and United States reimposed sanctions.