Foreign Interventions in Haiti: A Brief History

Kenyan police officers are soon heading to Haiti with a daunting mission: help restore order to a country where killings and kidnappings are so rampant that hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes and where, for years, it has been too dangerous to hold elections.

It is hardly the first time that an international force has gone to Haiti in the name of law and order. Or the second. Or even the third.

For the past century, soldiers from around the world — including the United States — have deployed to, and even invaded, Haiti.

In the past 30 years, the United Nations has launched at least six peacekeeping missions to Haiti. International soldiers have restored overthrown presidents, eased them out and helped train the Haitian National Police. But they have also left bleak legacies of sexual exploitation, civilian casualties and deadly disease.

Here’s a look at some of the international interventions in Haiti.

Has the United States ever invaded Haiti?

Yes. More than once.

The United States invaded Haiti in 1915, after the assassination of President Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam of Haiti that year, and stayed for nearly 20 years, one of the longest occupations in American history.