Emile Jonassaint - Haiti Observer Blog

Emile Jonassaint was born on May 20th 1913 and became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Haiti and later served as the president for a short period. Earlier the military regime had forced Jean Bernard Aristide to move out of the country.

Crimes by the Army

After a few years from May 12th to October 12th 1994, Emile Jonassaint functioned as the Head of the Provisional Government. During his tenure it is alleged that some of the most inhuman crimes were meted out by the Haitian army.

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Raoul Cedras was the de facto leader of Haiti for three years, from 1991 to 1994. He was born on July 9th, 1949 and got into the military in the US early in life. He was educated in the US and later joined the Leopard Corps which was trained by the US forces. Yanick Prosper was the spouse of Cedras.

Important CIA Agent

As the Lieutenant General of the Haitian army Raoul Cedras was chiefly responsible for ousting the president Jean Bertrand Aristide. He was a crucial CIA agent who reported on the president. He went on to become the Commander-in-Chief of the army.

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Haiti's transition to democracy took a long process and a long line of political leaders before it was fully achieved. In the 1980s and 1990s, Haitians and the government had to deal with several sudden changes in leadership as one president to the next were overthrown by coup d'états, revolts, and even foreign pressure. One of these individuals who were cut short from their presidency due to ongoing political turmoil was Émile Jonassaint, who served for a mere five months from May to October 1994.

Emile Jonassaint 's former administration was considered a puppet government of the military regime that has earlier removed Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office in 1991 after he won the first free elections in Haiti. The short five months under Jonassaint's temporary rule was met with chaos and violence between Aristide supporters and the military. In 1994, the U.S. government intervened and negotiated with the Haitian president to give back Aristide's presidency. He agreed and signed the famous Port-au-Prince Accord and maybe avoided the U.S.'s invasion over the country that was being torn by politics. He died at the age of 82 a year later.

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