SUMMARY

Military faction (forces of Raoul Cédras) was a dissident group of soldiers and officers that overthrew the Government of Haiti under President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on 30 September 1991. Subsequently, it took over as the government and implemented a military junta. At the time of the coup, the Military faction declared itself an apolitical institution and justified its action as an intervention to correct the democratic process. It accused President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of ruling Haiti as a dictatorship and issued seven demands to the government, including the disbanding of a commando unit of civilians trained by the Swiss that some members of the Military faction feared would become an elite private militia for the President.

Brigadier General Raoul Cédras, who was made provisional Commander-in-Chief of the Haitian military forces by President Aristide on 3 July 1991, led the military faction. Cédras had come from an elite Haitian family and been educated in the US. He had been handpicked by the wife of former President François Duvalier (in office 1957 to 1971) to attend the Haiti military academy and become part of the Leopard corps; an elite Haitian military unit trained for counterinsurgency by the US during the Duvalier government regime. The unit’s loyalties to the Duvalier regime had motivated some of its members to stage an earlier military coup against the Haitian government after the Duvalier regime fell (see Government of Haiti - Military faction (forces of Himmler Rebu and Guy Francois).

Although uncertain whether Cédras personally participated in this earlier coup attempt, his right-hand man, Brigadier Philippe Biamby did participate in it as one of the notable figures in the Military faction (forces of Himmler Rebu and Guy Francois). After going into exile briefly, Biamby returned to Haiti and was made military Chief of Staff before supporting the Military faction (forces of Raol Cédras) coup against the government. Biamby became a member of the Military High Command and served as deputy to Cédras, who led the ruling military junta that was installed after the coup. Michel Francois, who was National Police Chief, was the third key figure in the Military faction (forces of Raol Cédras). Similar to Cédras, Francois had also been educated in the US previously.

Although they denied prior knowledge of the coup, US CIA agents were reported to have been in the military headquarters when the coup was conducted by the Military faction (forces of Raol Cédras).