Peacekeeping· Caribbean Operations (Cuba + Haiti)
Op UPHOLD DEMOCRACY
Operation Uphold Democracy was the 1994 intervention to restore Haiti's elected government and end the rule of the military junta that had seized power, a mission that was poised as a forced-entry invasion but became a permissive intervention when a last-minute agreement led the junta to step aside. Marines deployed as part of the multinational force that entered Haiti to stabilize the country, restore order, and oversee the return of the legitimate government, operating in cities and towns where the situation remained tense and the potential for violence real. Though the entry was unopposed, the Marines conducted security operations, weapons-cache raids, and patrols in an uncertain environment where armed factions and the remnants of the old regime posed a continuing threat. The operation succeeded in its aim of reinstating Haiti's government without a major fight. Uphold Democracy exemplified the kind of stability and intervention mission that marked the Marine Corps' work in the post–Cold War Caribbean.
Record no. 29