Haiti was one of the original members of the League of Nations, and was one of the original members of the United Nations and several of its specialized and related agencies. It is also a founding member of the Organization of American States. Haiti also has diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, instead of the People's Republic of China. Taiwan is one of Haiti's major trading partners and the two countries maintain very friendly relations. Haiti has also re-established very warm relations with Cuba in which a major act of bilateral cooperation has resulted in Cuba's large contribution of doctors to the country. The Haitian government has publicly shown admiration to Fidel Castro and his administration.[citation needed]
The international community rallied to Haiti's defense during the 1991 to 1994 period of illegal military rule. Thirty-one countries participated in the U.S.-led Multinational Force (MNF) which, acting under UN auspices, intervened in September 1994 to help restore the legitimate government and create a secure and stable environment in Haiti. At its peak, the MNF included roughly 21,000 troops, mostly Americans, and more than 1,000 international police monitors. Within six months, the troop level was gradually reduced as the MNF transitioned to a 6,000 strong peacekeeping force, the UN Mission in Haiti (UNMIH). UNMIH was charged with maintaining the secure environment, which the MNF had helped establish, as well as nurturing Haiti's new police force through the presence of 900 police advisors. A total of 38 countries participated in UNMIH.
In order to spur Haiti's social and economic recovery from three years of de facto military rule and decades of misrule before that, international development banks and donor agencies pledged in 1994 to provide over US$2 billion in assistance by 1999. Disbursements were largely conditioned on progress in economic reform. Parliamentary inaction, principally as a result of the political struggles and gridlock that plagued Haiti since 1996, resulted in the blockage of much of this assistance as disbursement conditions were not met. The electoral crisis that has brewed in the aftermath of the 21 May 21, 2000 local and parliamentary elections has resulted in the blockage of most multilateral and bilateral assistance. Major donors are led by the United States, with the largest bilateral assistance program, and also include Canada, People's Republic of China, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Republic of China (Taiwan) and the United Kingdom. Multilateral aid is coordinated through an informal grouping of major donors under the auspices of the World Bank which, in addition to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the European Union, is also a major source of Haitian development assistance.
Visas are required for citizens of Colombia and Panama due to the actions of nationals of those two countries in using Haiti as a drop-off point for narcotic drugs bound for the United States. Panama's proximity to Colombia and their thriving off-shore banking industry has lured many traffickers to use that nation and Haiti as bases for their activities. Citizens of the Dominican Republic also require visas to visit Haiti, not only due to the hostile, sometimes volatile relations between both nations, but also because since the late 1990s, the Dominican Republic has become another base for illicit drugs bound for the United States, which usually enter illegally via Puerto Rico. Once in Puerto Rico, drugs can easily reach the United States due to the absence of both immigration and customs between that island and the mainland.[1]
Disputes – international:
claims US-administered Navassa Island
Both countries established diplomatic relations in December 1960 with opened Embassy of Haiti in Dahomey. It was closed in 1963 and reopened in Cotonou in February 2004. Embassy Haiti in Benin was finally closed on 11 December 2018.[45]
Haiti and Benin maintain diplomatic relations with a Haitian office in Cotonou, although Benin does not currently maintain an official diplomatic presence in the country due to the 2010 earthquake. Benin contributed a contingency of 32 police/civilian personnel to MINUSTAH.
The two countries share an extensive cultural history by a way of the Atlantic slave trade and the resulting importing of Haitian Vodou as a religious force in Haitian society. The devastating earthquake was followed, among many reactions, by an outburst of solidarity prayers in Benin with the victims.[89] Traditional ceremonies were organized to appease the spirits and seek the blessing of ancestors for the Haitians.[90]
In December 2018, Haiti closed its embassy in Cotonou.[91]
Benin does not have an accreditation for Haiti.
Haiti is accredited to Benin from its embassy in Paris, France.
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 January 2007 when first Ambassador of Burkina Faso to Haiti Salif Nebié, has presented his credentials to President René Préval.[77]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 11 January 1981 when Ambassador of Haiti (with residence in Nigeria) M. Antoine Victor Pierre-Louis has presented his credentials to President of Cameroon M. Ahmadou Ahidjo.[61]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 24 June 2008 when Ambassador of Equatorial Guinea Teresa Efua Asangono presented his credentials to President of Haiti, René Préval.[79]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 14 October 1981 when first ambassador of Haiti to Gabon with residence in Dakar Mr Victor Pierre Louis presented his credentials to President Bongo[63]
Gabon is accredited to Haiti from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 January 1983 when first Ambassador of Guinea to Haiti (resident in New York) Mr. Alpha Ibrahima Diallo presented his credentials to President Jean Claude Duvalier.[66]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 20 September 2023.[93]
Kenya offered to lead the Multinational Security Support Mission to Haiti with a force of 1,000 police officers, and this offer was accepted by the UN Security Council in October 2023.[94]
Haitian prime minister Ariel Henry visited Kenya in March 2024 to sign the agreement to deploy the police officers to Haiti.[95]
Haiti is accredited to Kenya from its embassy in Pretoria.
Kenya is accredited to Haiti from its embassy in Havana.
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 October 2014 when first Ambassador of Namibia to Haiti Mr. Jerobeam Shaanika presented his credentials to President Michel Martelly[97]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 March 1975 when first Ambassador of Zambia to Haiti (resident in New York) Mr. Rupiah Bwezani Banda presented his credentials to Président Duvalier.[98]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 February 1939 when first Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Argentina to Haiti (Resident in Havana) Mr. Victor Lascado presented his credentials.[99]
During the unsettled period from 1957 to 1990, Canada received many Haitian refugees, who now form a significant minority in Quebec. Canada participated in various international interventions in Haiti between 1994 and 2004, and continues to provide substantial aid to Haiti,[103] the second poorest country in the western hemisphere.[104]
Chile sent 650 peacekeeping troops to the island as part of the United Nations peace keeping mission.[107] Praising the work of the Chilean policemen in Haiti, National Police official Javiera Blanco said, "Even though today there is a need for the key presence of this mission, which is in mid term, the exit should be prepared for, considering that the country (Haiti) must take those responsibilities and build their capacities to do what is done by our mission." The police are planned to withdraw from Haiti in 2011.[108]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 7 August 1936 when Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Colombia Ricardo Gutiérrez Lee has presented his credentials to Haiti.[109]
Colombia is accredited to Haiti from its embassy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Colombia reopened its consulate in Port-au-Prince on December 15, 2023, after 2 decades of consular absence. The Consul is Vilma Velásquez[110]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 3 February 1904, which were interrupted on September 28, 1959, and later resumed on February 6, 1996.[111]
Relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic vacillated between barely tolerable and potentially combustible throughout the history of both countries' existences, reaching their lowest points in the Haitian invasion of the Dominican Republic, the aftermath of the Parsley Massacre, related Haitian-targeted ethnic cleansing campaigns by the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship and the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince. The periodic influxes of Haitian economic (and, in times past, political) migrants across the border have also strained relations between the two countries at various recent times.
Dominican Republic has an embassy in Port-au-Prince and consulates-general in Anse-à-Pitres and Ouanaminthe and a consulate in Belladère.
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 14 November 1949 when has been appointed Mr. Jorge Concha Enriquez as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Ecuador to Haiti with residence in Costa Rica.[29]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 2 October 1956 when has been appointed first non-resident Minister Plenipotentiary of Paraguay to Haiti Manuel Montanaro.[123]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 31 January 1974 when first Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to Haiti Mr. Charles H. Archibald presented his credentials[124]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 January 2014 when Ambassador of Pakistan M. Qazi M. Khalilullah has presented his credentials to President of Haiti Michel Martelly.[85]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 3 April 1984 when first Ambassador of Haiti to Philippines Mr. Raymond Perodin presented his credentials[135]
Haiti is accredited to the Philippines from its embassy in Tokyo, Japan.
Philippines is accredited to Haiti from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 January 1902 when has been appointed C. Renoz as Consul General and Chargé d'Affaires of Belgium to Haiti.[9]
Belgium is accredited to Haiti from its embassy in Havana, Cuba.
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 21 November 1912 when has been accredited first Chargé d'Affaires of Haiti to the Netherlands Mr. Stenio Vincent.[11]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 20 December 1939 when first Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of Spain to Haiti (Resident in Ciudad Trujillo) Mr. Rafael de los Casares Moya presented his credentials.[143]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 31 March 1941 when first Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of Sweden to Haiti (Resident in Havana) Mr. Erik Wisen presented his credentials.[145]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 29 September 1941 when accredited first Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Haiti to Switzerland Mr. Constantin Fouchard[21]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 13 May 1859 when has been appointed first British Chargé d'Affaires and Consul General to Haiti Thomas Neville Ussher.[146]
After the 2010 Haitian earthquake, the Australian Government provided A$26.7 million in humanitarian assistance to Haiti which was matched by A$26 million from the Australian public. Australia has since provided further humanitarian aid to Haiti after subsequent natural disasters, including Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 4 September 2014 when first Ambassador of New Zealand to Haiti Mrs Caroline Beresford presented his credentials to President Michel Martelly[86]
Haiti is accredited to New Zealand from its embassy in Tokyo, Japan.
New Zealand is accredited to Haiti from its high commission in Bridgetown, Barbados.
^The Foreign Office List and Diplomatic and Consular Year Book. Harrison. 1912. pp. 452–453.
^"All Countries". Office of the Historian. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
^Libro amarillo correspondiente al año ...: presentado al Congreso Nacional en sus sesiones ordinarias de ... por el titular despacho (in Spanish). Venezuela. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. 2003. pp. 528–529.
^Archives diplomatiques. Recueil de diplomatie et d'histoire, 31 (in French). Amyot. 1868. p. 453.
^von Martens, Karl (1846). Recueil manuel et pratique de traités, conventions et autres actes diplomatiques: sur lesquels sont établis les relations et les rapports existant aujourd'hui entre les divers états souverains du globe (in French). F. A. Brockhaus. p. 649.
^ abRecueil Consulaire Contenant les Rapports Commerciaux des Agents Belges a L'Etranger Volume 120 (in French). Belgium. Ministère des affaires étrangères. 1903. p. 12.
^Memoria (in Spanish). Peru. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. 1929. p. CXCI. HAITI El Gobierno ha nombrado con fecha 10 de octubre de 1929 al señor César Elejalde Chopitea , Encargado de Negocios en ese país y en la República Dominicana
^Memoria Del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores Y Comercio Correspondiente Al Año ... (in Spanish). Chile. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Comercio. 1937. p. 703. HAITI Legación Enviado Extraordinario y Ministro Plenipotenciario señor Emilio Edwards Bello (reside en La Habana).—(26-VII-34).
^British Documents on Foreign Affairs--reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print From 1940 through 1945. Latin America. Part III. Series D. Great Britain. Foreign Office, James Dunkerley, Michael Partridge, Paul Preston. 1998. p. 115.
^British Documents on Foreign Affairs--reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print: South and Central America, July 1942-December 1942. Great Britain. Foreign Office, James Dunkerley, Michael Partridge, Paul Preston. 1998. p. 169.
^British Documents on Foreign Affairs--reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print: South and Central America, July 1942-December 1942. Great Britain. Foreign Office, James Dunkerley, Michael Partridge, Paul Preston. 1998. p. 169.
^Jorge Francisco, Saenz Carbonell (2013). "LAS RELACIONES CON ISRAEL"(PDF). Historia Diplomatica de Costa Rica(1948-1970) (in Spanish). p. 122. Archived from the original(PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
^"Turkish envoy meets Haitian idol after 28 years". Haiti Sun. 16 November 1958. pp. 1, 13. Retrieved 27 December 2024. ... He arrived here on Thursday and will present his letters of credence to President Duvalier tomorrow.
^ abMarchés tropicaux et méditerranéens Volume 37 (in French). 1981. p. 2702.
^Le mois en Afrique - Issues 182-187 - Page 153. 1981.
^Latin America Report. Vol. 59/85. Executive Office of the President], Federal Broadcast Information Service, Joint Publications Research Service. 1985. p. 69.
^ abL'Information, Issues 3-8; Issues 10-21 (in French). 1983. p. 18.
^"Chile's Bachelet heads to Haiti, Jamaica and Dominican Republic". AFP in Caribbean Net News. June 8, 2006. Archived from the original on December 1, 2009. President Michelle Bachelet leaves Wednesday for a tour of Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic and a visit to the United States, where she will meet with President George W. Bush, Chile's foreign ministry said.
^"Chilean police mission in Haiti to withdraw in 2011". People's Daily. February 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-23. Chilean policemen participating in the United Nations peace mission in Haiti could return to their home country in 2011, local press quoted National Police official Javiera Blanco as saying Wednesday.
†Physiographically, these continental islands are not part of the volcanic Windward Islands arc, although sometimes grouped with them culturally and politically.
#Bermuda is an isolated North Atlanticoceanic island, physiographically not part of the Lucayan Archipelago, Antilles, Caribbean Sea nor North American continental nor South American continental islands. It is grouped with the Northern American region, but occasionally also with the Caribbean region culturally.