361. Politico-Military Contingency Plan for Haiti1
I. Summary
This contingency plan for Haiti conceives of two categories of contingencies: (1) Duvalier falls from power and unacceptable Haitians achieve dominance; and (2) Duvalier remains in office but Communists or other unacceptable Haitians mount a potentially successful operation to overthrow him.
An external attack on Haiti involving a few guerrillas could occur without detection or interception by the United States and therefore might be in a position to succeed before we are able to react. Similarly, the overthrow of Duvalier and his replacement by an unacceptable successor could occur without giving us needed reaction time.
Very little military force is needed to take the capital and no other single city or area is necessary to control the existing governmental organizations of Haiti. The introduction of even a small military force in Port-au-Prince would therefore be a major, if not decisive, influence on the crisis situation. The employment of a US military force is contemplated to prevent a Communist government from controlling Haiti and, if necessary, to evacuate American and other foreign nationals whose lives are threatened.
Duvalierʼs successor will probably seek our military and/or economic assistance to stabilize his regime, but withholding that assistance would not necessarily insure his downfall.
[Omitted here is the contingency plan, proposing U.S. options in response to “unacceptable” successors to Duvalier in Haiti and nine annexes.]
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Haiti, Vol. V. Secret. Drafted by IRG/ARA on April 29 and June 24, 1966, Revised in the Senior Interdepartmental Group and the Contingency Coordinating Committee and approved by both groups on May 16.↩