This day in history

20,000 U.S. troops land unopposed in Haiti to oversee the country’s transition to democracy.

In 1991, Roman Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first freely elected leader in Haitian history, was deposed in a bloody military coup. He escaped to exile and a three-man junta took power.

In 1994, reacting to evidence of atrocities committed by Haiti’s military dictators, the United Nations authorised the use of force to restore Aristide. On 18 September, the eve of the American invasion, a diplomatic delegation led by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter brokered a last-minute agreement with Haiti’s military to give up power. Bloodshed was prevented and on 15 October Aristide returned.

Aristide served as president until the expiration of his term in 1996. In 2000, he was again elected Haitian president in an election marked by violence and corruption.

In Thailand, a military coup deposes Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Israeli tanks open fire on Yasser Arafat’s compound in Ramallah in retaliation for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, the second of suicide attack in two days.

In Mexico, more than 30,000 people are killed and many more made homeless when an earthquake devastates large areas of Mexico City.

A letter bomb sent to the Israeli embassy in London by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September kills one diplomat in the embassy.