In October 1994 a United States-led multinational intervention, Operation Uphold Democracy, removed the Haitian military junta and restored the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who returned from exile on October 15, 1994, three years after he had been overthrown. The junta led by General Raoul Cedras, which had ousted Aristide in 1991, had resisted years of sanctions and diplomacy. Authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 940, a US invasion force was en route in September 1994 when a last-minute mission by former President Jimmy Carter persuaded Cedras to step down; US troops then entered peacefully on September 19.
Cedras resigned on October 10 and left for Panama on October 13, and the junta's figurehead president Emile Jonassaint stepped down. Aristide returned to the National Palace on October 15, 1994. The junta leaders were not physically harmed and were allowed into exile.
The dataset dates this October 14, 1994 and codes the deposed party's fate as not physically harmed.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: The military junta and its figurehead president Emile Jonassaint were removed by the US-led intervention that restored Aristide in October 1994; Cedras and the junta leaders were not physically harmed and went into exile.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Raoul Cedras (junta leader who stepped down and left for Panama)
Emile Jonassaint (the junta's figurehead president who resigned)
Jean-Bertrand Aristide (elected president restored to office)
Sources
Operation Uphold Democracy was a multinational military intervention in Haiti designed to remove the military regime led and installed by Raoul Cedras after the 1991 coup that overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, effectively authorized by the 31 July 1994 UN Security Council Resolution 940 which approved the use of force to restore the Aristide government.
A 21,000-strong US military force occupied Haiti on 19 September 1994, and unlike previous efforts it succeeded, the leaders of the regime left the country and the president-in-exile Jean-Bertrand Aristide was able to return to the National Palace on 15 October 1994.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWritenet / Refworld, Haiti Prospects for Democracyopen source ↗
On 10 October General Cedras resigned and two days later President Jonassaint resigned, on 13 October Cedras left Haiti for Panama, and as scheduled President Aristide returned to the presidential palace on 15 October 1994, with the executive and legislative branches of a democratic government rapidly installed following his return.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWritenet / Refworld, Haiti Prospects for Democracyopen source ↗
With US invasion forces en route the evening of September 18, Cedras relayed his decision to relinquish control and ultimately leave Haiti through the Carter mission, and the following morning US forces began a peaceful entry into Haiti, ensuring the peaceful restoration of President Aristide.
Coding note and dataset examination, done carefully because this event is a restoration rather than an ordinary coup: the dataset labels this a foreign-backed coup with a not-physically-harmed fate, dated October 14, 1994. Who is coded deposed: this is the removal of the military junta, so the deposed party is the Cedras regime and its figurehead president Emile Jonassaint, NOT the returning elected president Aristide. The foreign-backed label fits the US-led multinational intervention (Operation Uphold Democracy) authorized by UN Resolution 940 that forced the junta out. Fate coding: the junta leaders were not physically harmed; Cedras resigned and left for Panama and Jonassaint stepped down, matching the not-physically-harmed coding. Date reconciliation: the transition clustered on October 10 to 15, 1994 (Cedras resigned Oct 10, left Oct 13, Aristide returned Oct 15); the dataset's October 14 date falls within this window and the sequence is recorded. Arc link: this directly reverses the September 1991 Cedras coup that ousted Aristide (enriched in batch 42), closing that arc. Context handled neutrally: the intervention is variously assessed as a restoration of democracy and, by critics, as an intervention with lasting complications for Haiti; both are recorded as documented views. The junta's three-year rule was marked by severe human-rights abuses, recorded per sources. Neutrality maintained on a contested subject.
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: The military junta and its figurehead president Emile Jonassaint were removed by the US-led intervention that restored Aristide in October 1994; Cedras and the junta leaders were not physically harmed and went into exile..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; not physically harmed. 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
“Cedras will step Down Today: Haitian Military officials say: Van Plows into Pro-Aristide March, Killing 14 Cendras to Step Down Today, the Haitian Military Say the Haitian rulers’ Departure nears, but the killings conintue.” Larry Rohter, October 10, 1994
“Haitian Taking Office, With Daunting Job ahead,” by Larry Rohter, February 7, 1996
“Last G.I.’s With U.N. In Haiti Are Leaving,” April 18, 1996
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 →