Coup Atlas Research Database
← Back to explorer
04103012004SuccessfulForeign-backed coup

Haiti, 2004 — foreign-backed coup

Haiti (HTI)Caribbean, AmericasMarch 1, 2004

Event Summary

On 29 February 2004 President Jean-Bertrand Aristide left Haiti aboard a United States arranged aircraft, ending his second presidency amid an armed rebellion and intense foreign pressure. Since early February an insurgency led by former soldiers and paramilitaries, including figures from the disbanded army and past death squads, had seized Gonaives and Cap-Haitien and advanced on the capital as the Haitian National Police collapsed. On the morning of 29 February, US diplomats came to the presidential palace, and after the ambassador said the United States could not guarantee his safety once the rebels arrived, Aristide left on a US plane accompanied by American security personnel, flown first to the Central African Republic and eventually settling in South Africa.

The circumstances remain sharply disputed. The United States, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, said Aristide resigned and left willingly, pointing to a signed letter; Aristide and his supporters said he had been forced out and described it as a modern kidnapping or coup, and he later said he was abducted at gunpoint. An interim government under President Boniface Alexandre and Prime Minister Gerard Latortue was installed and foreign troops deployed under a US led mission.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, removed and flown into exile; the US called it a resignation while Aristide called it a kidnapping
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Jean-Bertrand Aristide (deposed president)
Guy Philippe (rebel leader)
Boniface Alexandre (installed as interim president)
Gerard Latortue (installed as prime minister)
Colin Powell (US Secretary of State who said Aristide left willingly)

Sources

On the morning of 29 February 2004 Aristide resigned under controversial circumstances and was flown from Haiti by US military and security personnel, going into exile first in the Central African Republic before settling in South Africa, after which an interim government under Boniface Alexandre and Gerard Latortue was installed and about 2,700 foreign troops were deployed.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 2004 Haitian coup d'etat open source ↗
Aristide was flown out of the country by the US with assistance from Canada and France on 28 February 2004, and he and his bodyguard stated that he was the victim of a new coup d'etat or modern kidnapping, a claim the US disputed.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Jean-Bertrand Aristide open source ↗
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Aristide was not kidnapped and went on the airplane willingly, while the government of the Central African Republic, where Aristide was first taken, said his landing had been requested by Aristide himself as well as the US and French governments.
SOURCE REVIEWED NBC News (Associated Press) open source ↗
An analysis noted that Aristide's departure early on 29 February was not voluntary in the sense that he would have preferred to remain president, but that after the US ambassador said he could not guarantee his safety once the rebels arrived, Aristide accepted the offer of a flight out, and only later described being abducted at gunpoint.
SOURCE REVIEWED London Review of Books (Paul Farmer) open source ↗

Editorial Note

CONTESTED and handled neutrally: the framing of Aristide's removal is genuinely disputed, with the US calling it a voluntary resignation and Aristide calling it a US orchestrated kidnapping or coup; the summary presents both without adjudicating. Date discrepancy: sources place his departure on 29 February 2004 (some say the flight left late on 28 February), while the dataset codes 03-01; the summary uses 29 February and the note records the coding gap. Coded fate exiled is verified: Aristide went to the Central African Republic and then South Africa. Coded as a foreign backed coup, consistent with the US, French, and Canadian role that even critics and defenders agree was decisive, though they dispute its character.

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:

Cline Center id
04103012004

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, removed and flown into exile; the US called it a resignation while Aristide called it a kidnapping.

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
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Haitian_coup_d%27%C3%A9ta

New York Times

“Aristide, Now in Central African Republic, Has Harsh Words for the Haitian Rebels,” March 2, 2004

BBC Monitoring Americas

“Trinidad Scientist says Aristide removal an informal ”coup d’etat,” March 2, 2004

Toronto Star

“Canada parrots U.S. line on Haiti,” March 2, 2004

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 →

Know something about this event?
Tips are reviewed against sources before anything is added.

Related Records

Haiti — Foreign-backed coup, 19941994-10-14SuccessfulCaribbeanHaiti — Military coup, 19911991-09-30SuccessfulCaribbeanHaiti — Popular revolt, 19901990-03-10SuccessfulCaribbean