The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with Haiti, making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that is shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi), and third-largest by population, with approximately 10.8 million people, of whom approximately 3.3 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. The official language of the country is Spanish.
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, to the east of Cuba and Jamaica and south of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the Dominican Republic. To its south-west lies the small island of Navassa Island, which is claimed by Haiti but is disputed as a United States territory under federal administration. Haiti is 27,750 square kilometers (10,714 sq mi) in size, the third largest country in the Caribbean by area, and has an estimated population of 11.4 million, making it the most populous country in the Caribbean. The capital is Port-au-Prince.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies to become a priest. He became a focal point for the pro-democracy movement first under Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier and then under the military transition regime which followed. He won the 1990–91 Haitian general election, with 67% of the vote. As a priest, he taught liberation theology and, as a president, he attempted to normalize Afro-Creole culture, including Vodou religion, in Haiti.
Jean-Claude Duvalier, nicknamed "Baby Doc", was a Haitian politician who was the President of Haiti from 1971 until he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February 1986. He succeeded his father François "Papa Doc" Duvalier as the ruler of Haiti after his death in 1971. After assuming power, he introduced cosmetic changes to his father's regime and delegated much authority to his advisors. Thousands of Haitians were killed or tortured, and hundreds of thousands fled the country during his presidency. He maintained a notoriously lavish lifestyle while poverty among his people remained the most widespread of any country in the Western Hemisphere.
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama Mystic River (2003) and the biopic Milk (2008).
Nel Ust Wyclef Jean is a Haitian rapper, singer, songwriter and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, alongside Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel. They released the albums Blunted on Reality (1994) and The Score (1996), the latter becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. Jean would follow this with the release of his first solo studio album, Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival (1997), which contains his top ten hit "Gone till November".
The Constitution of Haiti was modeled after the constitutions of the United States and France. The latest version of the document was approved by Parliament in March 2011 and came into effect on June 20, 2012.
The First Empire of Haiti, officially known as the Empire of Haiti, was an elective monarchy in North America. Haiti was controlled by France before declaring independence on January 1, 1804. The Governor-General of Haiti, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, created the empire on September 22, 1804. After being proclaimed emperor by the Generals of the Haitian Revolution Army, he held his coronation ceremony on October 6 and took the name Jacques I. The constitution of May 20, 1805, set out the way the empire was to be governed, with the country split into six military divisions. The general of each division corresponded directly with the emperor or the general in chief appointed by the emperor. The constitution also set out the succession to the throne, with the crown being elective and the reigning emperor having the power to appoint his successor. The constitution also banned white people, with the exception of naturalised Germans and Poles, from owning property inside the empire.
Louis Mondestin Florvil Hyppolite was a general who served as the President of Haiti from 17 October 1889 to 24 March 1896.
Clinton Body Count is a conspiracy theory asserting that former U.S. President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton have had Americans assassinated, totaling as many as fifty or more. Many parts of it have been advanced by Newsmax publisher Christopher Ruddy, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, and others. Such accusations have been around at least since the 1990s, when a film called The Clinton Chronicles, produced by Larry Nichols and promoted by Rev. Jerry Falwell, accused Bill Clinton of multiple crimes including murder. This conspiracy theory has been debunked by the Lakeland Ledger, the Chicago Tribune, Snopes and others, who point to detailed death records, the unusually large circle of associates that a president is likely to have, and the fact that many of the people listed had been misidentified, or were still alive. Others had no known link to the Clintons.
John Edward West Thompson was an American physician and diplomat. His parents were immigrants to New York City from Haiti. After graduating from Yale University and studying medicine further in Europe, in 1884 Thompson became one of the first African-American physicians to practice in New York City.
A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital.
Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal was a Haitian politician who served as the President of Haiti three times.
François Denys Légitime was a Haitian general who served as President of Haiti from 1888 to 1889.
The Ministry of Justice and Public Security is a ministry of the Government of Haiti. This ministry is responsible for law enforcement roles, along with playing an integral role in the Prime Minister's Cabinet.
The Ministry of Defense is a ministry of the Government of Haiti. This ministry is responsible for military and defense of the country, along with playing an integral role in the Prime Minister's Cabinet.
Presidential elections were held in Haiti on 25 October 2015, alongside local elections and the second round of the legislative elections. Incumbent President Michel Martelly was constitutionally barred from running. As no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round, a runoff was to be held on 27 December 2015. On 22 December the Conseil Electoral Provisoire (CEP) announced that the runoff has been postponed indefinitely. However, on 1 January 2016 President Michel Martelly announced that the runoff would be held on 17 January, but on 7 January the President changed the date to 24 January. On 20 January, Jude Célestin issued a statement that calls "whatever the person who will participate in this January 24 [runoff], is a traitor to the Nation". Because of rioting and electoral violence, on 22 January the CEP decided to postpone the second round again, with no specific date given, even after President Michel Martelly confirmed the previous day in a nationwide speech that the election should still take place. The run-off date was later agreed to take place on 24 April 2016.
Jovenel Moïse was a Haitian entrepreneur and politician, who served as the president of Haiti from 2017 until his assassination in 2021. He was sworn in as president in February 2017 after winning the November 2016 election. In 2019, political unrest and calls for his resignation became a crisis. In the early morning of 7 July 2021, Moïse was assassinated, and his wife Martine was injured during an attack on their private residence in Pétion-Ville. Claude Joseph, the acting president of Haiti, took control of the country following his assassination.
Jovenel Moïse, the president of Haiti, was assassinated on 7 July 2021 at 1 a.m. EDT (UTC−04:00) at his residence. A group of 28 foreign mercenaries are alleged to be responsible for the killing. First Lady Martine Moïse was also shot multiple times in the attack, and was airlifted to the United States for emergency treatment. Later in the day, police killed three of the suspected assassins and arrested 20 more. A manhunt is ongoing for five other gunmen as well as the masterminds of the attack, one of whom was arrested on 11 July. Haitian chief prosecutor Bedford Claude confirmed plans to question Moïse's top bodyguards; none of the president's security guards were killed or injured in the attack.
Ariel Henry is a Haitian neurosurgeon and politician who has served as the acting prime minister of Haiti and the acting president of Haiti since 20 July 2021. He later became involved in a controversy due to his refusal to cooperate with the authorities over his links with one of the suspects accused of orchestrating the assasination of President Jovenel Moïse on 7 July 2021.
