Jean-Bertrand Aristide was born on June 15, 1941 in Raphaël, Haiti. He was raised by his mother and stepfather, and he received a high school education at the Jesuit-run "École du Sacré-Coeur," before beginning an eight-year law degree at the University of Haiti. In 1970, Aristide became active in politics, joining the Haitian Communist Party (Parti du Travail du Peuple, PTP). A year later he was arrested and imprisoned for sedition
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In 1975, Aristide was elected to the Haitian Chamber of Deputies as a PTP candidate. He proposed a program of nationalization and redistribution of property, and in 1978 he joined the National Democratic Front (Front Démocratique Nacional), a coalition of political parties that supported his policies. In 1979 Aristide was again elected to the Chamber of Deputies and served until 1983.
During this period he also founded the Rassemblement Démocratique Haitien (RDH), a political party that sought to achieve reforms through constitutional means. In late 1980, however, Aristide broke with his party leadership and formed the Ligue Souveraine des Forces Nouvelles (Lignes Souveraines des Forces Nouvelles). These forces sought to overthrow President François Duvalier through armed struggle.
When President François Duvalier fled to France in February 1986 Aristide became president of Haiti. During Aristide's presidency, Haiti established diplomatic relations with Nicaragua and Cuba; rebuilt its economy; gained control over its offshore oil resources; agreed to comply with international loans; ratified an agreement granting autonomy to the island nation's legislature; initiated land reform; granted amnesty to political prisoners; opened its borders to aid workers; allowed for freedom of speech and press; established democracy schools; consolidated peace agreements with former rebel forces; restored voting rights for former prisoners; worked toward improving health care; began returning land seized by French colonists during colonial rule; released political prisoners; attempted to develop democratic institutions; negotiated with creditors over debt repayment terms that gave Haitians control over their own destiny; moved toward economic self-sufficiency through industrialization programs that included textile production, agro-industries, tourism development, fishing operations; increased employment opportunities for women by guaranteeing equal pay for equal work in government jobs; paid people to plant trees in the countryside as part of an effort to fight deforestation; eliminated illiteracy among adults (94 percent
