PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Known as the "Perle des Antilles" at the time of its independence in 1804, Haiti has gone through several periods of upheaval and terror that have stymied a once promising future. Human rights violations are widespread, and justice is nonexistent in the country today.
In 1804, after a slave revolt against the French, Haiti became the first independent republic in Latin America, and the world's first black republic. In response to the colony's revolt, the French imposed a commercial embargo, and the United States refused to recognize the new republic until 1862. Since independence, France and the U.S. have continued to exert influence on politics in Haiti.
In 2000, Jean Bertrand Aristide was re-elected president and assumed power in 2001. Aristide was unable to establish a working relationship with the opposition. Amid accusations of widespread government corruption and tainted parliamentary elections, the U.S. redirected economic aid from the government to nongovernmental organizations.