Coup Atlas Research Database
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04106141957SuccessfulMilitary coup

Haiti, 1957 — military coup

Haiti (HTI)Caribbean, AmericasJune 14, 1957

Event Summary

On June 14, 1957, the Haitian Army forced the resignation of provisional president Daniel Fignole after a tenure of just 19 days and installed a three-man Military Council of Government under General Antonio Kebreau. Fignole, a hugely popular labor leader in Port-au-Prince known for his ability to summon mass demonstrations, had been designated president in late May but quickly alienated the army by moving to reshape the officer corps. That night, soldiers broke into a cabinet session, seized Fignole at gunpoint, forced him to sign a resignation letter, and bundled him aboard a ship into exile in New York.

His removal was followed by the army's massacre of many of his supporters in the poor districts of the capital over the following nights. The Kebreau junta then governed until the September 1957 election, which the army steered to a victory for Francois Duvalier, beginning the Duvalier dictatorship.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Daniel Fignole, provisional President of Haiti (ousted by the army at gunpoint, exiled)
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Daniel Fignole (deposed provisional president)
Antonio Kebreau (general who led the junta)
Francois Duvalier (candidate the army favored)

Sources

A U.S. State Department record states that on 14 June 1957 the Haitian Army forced the resignation of provisional president Daniel Fignole and established a three-man Military Council of Government; his government had lasted only 19 days.
SOURCE REVIEWED U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955-1957, Vol. VI, Document 357 open source ↗
After just 19 days the Haitian armed forces broke into the presidential chambers, seized Fignole, forced him at gunpoint to sign a resignation letter, and bundled him into a car; from exile in New York he blamed Duvalier for his overthrow.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, "Daniel Fignole" open source ↗
On 14 June 1957 the army deposed Fignole in a coup and installed a three-man military junta led by General Antonio Kebreau to restore order and organize elections, which were scheduled for 22 September 1957.
SOURCE REVIEWED Grokipedia, "1957 Haitian general election" open source ↗
For days after the coup, protesting Fignole supporters in poor districts were gunned down by soldiers under Kebreau's military regime; with army backing, Duvalier won the 1957 election and became head of state.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, "Daniel Fignole" open source ↗

Editorial Note

Sources agree the army forced Fignole out on 14 June 1957 (the Cline dataset date) after 19 days and installed the Kebreau junta, matching the leader fate of exile. A primary FRUS record, Wikipedia, and Grokipedia were read directly. This is the fifth and decisive stage of the 1956-1957 Haitian succession crisis; the junta then delivered the presidency to Duvalier in September 1957.

Cross-Reference

Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
04106141957
Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-41-1957-06-14-3

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Daniel Fignole, provisional President of Haiti (ousted by the army at gunpoint, exiled).

Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; exiled. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Wikipedia

New York Times

“Haiti’s President Ousted by Army: principals in military coup in Haiti,” June 15,1957
“HAITI’S POLICE HUNT POLITICAL FIGURES,” June 19, 1957

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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