According to the Spanish "El País" website reported on October 24, a group of American missionaries and their relatives were kidnapped in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, on the 16th local time. The dramatic crisis has shown how the 11-million-strong Caribbean nation has fallen apart.
The kidnappings once again proved that gang activity had replaced government functions. The kidnappers demanded a $17 million ransom to free the hostages, and the gang leader threatened to "make their heads blossom" unless the ransom was paid.
This abduction is just one of a series of recent tragedies in Haiti. The assassination of Haitian President Jophneer Moiz in July plunged the country into severe political chaos, and the assassination has not yet been resolved. A month later, more than 2,000 people were killed in a magnitude 7.2 earthquake while a tropical storm plunged thousands into poverty. All this happened at the same time that more than 11,000 Haitian immigrants were deported after years of wandering in the United States.
In this case, increasingly armed criminal gangs have found their way to power and money through kidnapping. Between July and September this year, Haiti recorded 221 abductions, with an average of more than two people being abducted each day, including businessmen, street vendors, doctors, students, children and religious figures.
So far, kidnapping foreigners has been a money-making business in Haiti, with ransoms averaging $1 million for whites and $100,000 for locals. The testimony of those who eventually paid for their lives described torture and ill-treatment suffered for long periods of time in captivity. Now, when night falls, the Caribbean country, which is noisy and joyful during the day, becomes dangerous, and people cannot go out, otherwise they may wait for robbery.
According to statistics conducted by the Fondation Des Reclairees in August, there are currently about 150 active gangs in Haiti. The strongest was the "400 Rookie" group, which often kidnapped religious people on a large scale, led by Wilson Joseph. These gangs carved up Port-au-Prince, leaving the city at risk for their lives. Their power is so great that the United Nations has had to negotiate with them to allow the distribution of humanitarian aid after the earthquake. On the other hand, because Mexico did not negotiate as they should, gang bandits shot and intercepted the ships, leaving the ships loaded with food and medicine forced to return home after two attempts.
The security situation in Haiti deteriorated day by day, and on the 17th, even Haitian Prime Minister Henry was forced to flee from a commemoration event in Port-au-Prince under the attack of gangsters, which was finally presided over by the gang leader. On the 18th, Haitians launched a nationwide strike to protest the increasingly rampant kidnappings. People used burning tires as barricades, and as more protesters joined in, several areas of the capital's downtown were shrouded in billowing black smoke.
A European diplomat said: "Until now, these gangs have acted as party mouthpieces. In the current power vacuum, it is difficult to get the tiger beast back into the cage. Erroldi Jean Françoise, director of The main radio station in Haiti, said: "We are witnessing the end of a cycle, the end of a government based on the rule of law. In Haiti, the government has never been strong, but this state of disintegration is unprecedented." (Compilation/Lu Wang)
Source: Reference News Network