The Dominican diplomat kidnapped four days ago by a dangerous gang in Haiti was released, the foreign minister reported Wednesday in Santo Domingo.
Carlos Guillen, agricultural adviser of the Dominican legation in Port-au-Prince, was kidnapped Friday at noon in the Croix-des-Bouquets neighborhood, on the outskirts of the Haitian capital, en route to the border.
The Dominican Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Álvarez, indicated that Guillén “has been released safe and sound, after 4 days of kidnapping,” in a tweet published at dawn without specifying details. “We thank everyone who actively participated in his release.”
A foreign ministry source said on Sunday that the kidnapping was perpetrated by the dangerous gang “400 Mawozo”which controls Croix-des-Bouquets and the entire highway that leads to the border with the Dominican town of Jimaní, an hour’s drive from the Haitian capital.
The conditions of the release are not clear. The Dominican press had reported that the gang was demanding a $500,000 ransom for the official, who was traveling to Jimaní.
Haiti plunged into violence
Guillén was the first Dominican diplomat kidnapped by a gang in Haiti, according to the Foreign Ministry source.
After the kidnapping, the government militarily reinforced the Jimaní area, where commercial and tourist traffic fell 80% due to the terror spread by the gangs, according to local authorities.
The violence of these criminal gangs has also led to an open war in Haiti, with at least 18 civilians killed amid reports of exchanges of fire, house fires and rapes.
The police forces of that country, without sufficient weapons to deal with the situation, have lost control of entire neighborhoods and highways.
400 Mawozo kidnapped a group of 17 American missionaries and their families, including five children, in October. Its leader, Germine Joly, alias “Yonyon”, was extradited to the United States on Tuesday to face justice, which accuses him of conspiracy and violation of the export control reform law, smuggling, importation of weapons of war and kidnapping. of US citizens.