Missionaries kidnapped in Haiti The gang demands 17 million to free its hostages

(Port-au-Prince, Haiti) The gang that kidnapped 17 people associated with a US-based Christian aid group in Haiti on Saturday has demanded a $1 million ransom for each of the people it holds, the country's Justice Minister Liszt Quitel said on Tuesday.

Local authorities said the kidnapped group, consisting of 16 Americans and a Canadian, was captured in a suburb of Port-au-Prince. Five children, including a 2-year-old, are among those abducted.

“The request was made to the Christian Aid Ministries group – they asked for a million dollars per person,” Quitel said in a telephone interview. “Often these gangs know that these demands cannot be met and they consider a counter-offer from the families, and the negotiations can take a few days or weeks. »

As far as he knows, he said, the gang has not issued a deadline for payment.

The Wall Street Journal had previously reported on this ransom demand.

The United States will do "everything possible" to free the 17 American citizens kidnapped by a gang in Haiti, said the head of diplomacy Antony Blinken, while the kidnappers demand a ransom of 17 million dollars.

“We are relentlessly focused on this issue,” said Antony Blinken, visiting Quito, Ecuador. “We will do everything we can to help resolve the situation,” he added, adding that an FBI team was working on this file.

“Unfortunately, it is also a symptom of a much bigger problem with the security situation which is simply untenable” in Haiti, added the Secretary of State.

Haiti has been in the throes of political upheaval for years, and kidnappings of rich and poor alike are alarmingly common. But even in a country accustomed to widespread lawlessness, the kidnapping of such a large group shocked the authorities with its audacity.

Violence is on the rise in the capital, Port-au-Prince, which is controlled by gangs. By some estimates, the gangs now control almost half of the city. On Monday, gangs fired on a school bus in Port-au-Prince, injuring at least five people, including students, while another public bus was also hijacked by a gang.

The security crisis comes on the heels of a deep political crisis in Haiti. Two years ago, protesters denounced widespread corruption and demanded the ousting of President Jovenel Moïse, which paralyzed the country. The stalemate has kept the sick from seeking treatment in hospitals, children from going to school, workers from getting to the few jobs available, and has even caused power cuts in parts of the country.

Since then, the gangs have only become more assertive. They do as they please, kidnapping children on their way to school and pastors in the middle of a sermon.

The gang that police say abducted the 17 missionaries and their family members is one of the most dangerous in the country and one of the first to engage in mass kidnappings.

The gang, known as "400 Mawozo", controls the area where the missionaries were kidnapped, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, the capital. The group has been terrorizing the area for several months, engaging in gun battles with rival gangs and kidnapping businessmen and police.

The gang has taken kidnapping to a new level in Haiti, abducting people en masse as they ride buses or walk the streets in groups whose numbers might once have protected them.

The gang was accused of kidnapping five priests and two nuns earlier this year. He also allegedly killed Anderson Belony, a famous sculptor, on Tuesday, according to local media. Belony had worked to improve his impoverished community.

Croix-des-Bouquets, one of the suburbs now controlled by the gang, has become an almost ghost town, with many residents fleeing daily violence.

In this once bustling neighborhood, you can no longer find the poor street vendors who lined the sidewalks, some of whom were abducted by the gang for what little they had in their pockets or had to sell the few possessions they had at home. , including radios or refrigerators, to pay the ransom.

Gangs have plagued Port-au-Prince for the past two decades, but they were often used for political purposes — such as voter suppression — by powerful politicians. They have become a seemingly uncontrollable force, thriving in economic malaise and desperation that grows worse every year, with independent gangs springing up in the capital.

This text was translated from The New York Times

With Agence France-Presse