Jean-Bertrand Aristide : Ask Biography

Aristide meeting Bill Clinton in the White House in 1994.

Personal data

Date of birth

15 July 1953(age 63)

Place of birth

Port-Salut, Sud Department

Nationality

Haitian

Political party

Lavalas

Spouse

Mildred Trouillot (m.1996)

Children

two daughters

Alma mater

College Notre Dame
State University of Haiti

Occupation

Priest

Religion

Roman Catholic

President of Haiti

In office

7 February 1991 - 29 September 1991

Prime minister

René Préval

Succeeded by

Raoul Cédras

Preceded by

Ertha Pascal-Trouillot

In office

12 October 1994 - 7 February 1996

Prime minister

Smarck Michel
Claudette Werleigh

Succeeded by

René Préval

Preceded by

Émile Jonassaint

In office

7 February 2001 - 29 February 2004

Prime minister

Jean Marie Chérestal
Yvon Neptune

Succeeded by

Boniface Alexandre

Preceded by

René Préval

Home | Office Holder | Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Catholic priest and politician who served as Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies. He became a focal point for the pro-democracy movement first under Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier and then under the military transition regime which followed. He won the Haitian general election, 1990-1991 with 67% of the vote and was briefly President of Haiti, until a September 1991 military coup. The coup regime collapsed in 1994 under US pressure and threat of force (Operation Uphold Democracy) after Aristide agreed to roll back several reforms. Aristide was then President again from 1994 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2004.

Aristide was ousted in a 29 February 2004 coup d'état, in which former soldiers participated. He accused the US of orchestrating the coup d'état against him with support from, among others, Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson. Aristide was forced into exile, being flown directly to the Central African Republic and South Africa. He finally returned to Haiti on March 18, 2011 after seven years in exile.