Chilean-led coalition victory; United Nations Buteur Métayer A coup d'état in Haiti on 29 February 2004, following several weeks of conflict, resulted in the removal of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office.

[8] Following Aristide's departure, an interim government led by Prime Minister Gérard Latortue and President Boniface Alexandre was installed.

Congressman John Conyers wrote: Unfortunately, there were irregularities that occurred in the election and there is a post-election problem of the vote count that is threatening to undo the democratic work of the citizens of Haiti.

[citation needed] "I believe that (the call for reparations) could have something to do with it, because they (France) were definitely not happy about it, and made some very hostile comments," Myrtha Desulme, chairperson of the Haiti-Jamaica Exchange Committee, told IPS.

[18] Furthermore, the Aristide government launched a campaign to collect unpaid taxes and utility bills from Haiti’s wealthy population, seeking to reign in the business elite; such developments deeply unsettled the country’s aristocracy.

On 5 December 2003, some of Aristide's supporters, backed by the police according to witnesses,[25] entered the social studies department of the Université d'État d'Haïti to attack students who were rallying for an anti-government protest later that day.

After his death, his brother Buteur Métayer swore vengeance against those he felt responsible for Amiot's death—namely, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

[28] In October 2003, France tasked philosopher Régis Debray with leading a commission in Haiti to improve bilateral relations, though strictly instructed him to not discuss potential reparations.

[7] On 5 February 2004, this rebel group seized control of Haiti's fourth-largest city, Gonaïves, marking the beginning of a minor revolt against Aristide.

[30] On the morning of 29 February, Deputy Chief of Mission Luis G. Moreno arrive at the presidential palace with Diplomatic Security Service officers and asked President Aristide for a resignation letter.

[4][7] Many international politicians, including members of the U.S. congress and the Jamaican Prime Minister, expressed concern that the United States had interfered with Haiti's democratic process, accusing them of removing Aristide with excessive force.

"[5] Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York expressed similar words, saying Aristide had told him he was "disappointed that the international community had let him down" and "that he resigned under pressure" – "As a matter of fact, he was very apprehensive for his life.

[5] Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson released a statement saying "we are bound to question whether his resignation was truly voluntary, as it comes after the capture of sections of Haiti by armed insurgents and the failure of the international community to provide the requisite support.

"[5] Supreme Court Chief Justice Boniface Alexandre succeeded Aristide as interim president and petitioned the UN Security Council for the intervention of an international peacekeeping force.

[citation needed] On 1 June 2004, the peacekeeping mission was passed to MINUSTAH and comprised a 7000-person force led by Brazil and backed up by Argentina, Chile, Jordan, Morocco, Nepal, Peru, Philippines, Spain, Sri Lanka and Uruguay.

[35] A number of figures from Haiti's past re-appeared in government after the rebellion, including Hérard Abraham at the Ministry of the Interior, Williams Régala (a former aide to Henri Namphy) and Colonel Henri-Robert Marc-Charles, a member of the post-1991 military junta.

"[6] As reported by the BBC, on 3 March 2004, CARICOM called for an independent inquiry into the departure of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and says it would not be sending peacekeepers.

"In respect of our partners we can only say this, at no time in our discussions did they convey to us that the plan was unacceptable so long as president Aristide remained in office.

[37] The U.S. and France have been accused of using pressure on CARICOM to not make a formal UN request for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Aristide's removal.

[38] The CARICOM initially refused to recognize the interim government, but in 2006 the newly elected René Préval resumed his country's membership in the organization.

Another French ambassador, Philippe Selz, told the paper that the decision "to extradite" President Aristide had been made in advance.

The kidnapping claim is "absolutely false," concurred Parfait Mbaye, the communications minister for the Central African Republic, where Aristide's party was taken.

A slightly different translation was given by Albert Valdman, a linguistics professor and specialist in Haitian Creole at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.