Consistent American intervention and imperialist foreign policy has cast a long shadow over the development and geopolitical context of the Caribbean and Latin America. In order to place the United States Occupation of Haiti (1915-1934) and the related historical dynamics in context, attention must first be focused on the nature of the United States interventions and imperialism in the Caribbean and South America. A broad scope is necessary to understand the involvement of the United States in Haiti as part of a larger pattern in the region. The experience of the neighboring Dominican Republic is closest to Haiti’s regarding a parallel military presence.

RAOUL BOURDEAU ALTIDOR is a former organizing coordinator with the Service Employees International Union, AFLCIO, and is currently an organizing campaign director at the American Federation of Teachers in the United States. He has been involved in the labor movement for more than twenty years. As a journalist he collaborated at several newspapers in Haiti and in France including Le Nouvelliste and Révolution. Altidor is also active in grass roots politics in Haiti. He holds a BA from Johnson State College and a Master’s degree in History from Southern New Hampshire University. He lives in New York City.