The kidnappers holding a group of 17 American and Canadian missionaries to Haiti, including five children, are seeking a $ 1 million ransom for each of their hostages, security sources said Tuesday.
The kidnapping by one of Haiti ‘s shameless criminal gangs has highlighted the country’ s deep problems following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July, with growing lawlessness in the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
A gang known as Mawozo, which for months has controlled the area where the missionaries and members of their families were abducted, is seeking a total of $ 17 million.
Haiti Justice Minister Liszt Quitel confirmed that the gang was behind the abduction of 16 Americans and a Canadian.
He told the Washington Post that the kidnappers normally demand large sums of money which are reduced during the negotiations, saying his officials did not participate in the talks.
The missionaries work for U.S.-based Christian Aid Ministries, which said in a statement that the group was abducted east of Port-au-Prince while returning from a visit to an orphanage located between the Haitian capital and the border with the Dominican Republic.
On Sunday the organization said the enslaved group consisted of five men, seven women and five children, whose ages were not disclosed.
In April, 10 people including two French clerics were abducted and held for 20 days by the Mawozo gang in the same region.
The United States in August issued a red alert for Haiti, urging Americans not to travel to the Caribbean because of rampant kidnappings, crime and civil unrest.
On Monday a general strike was called to protest against the rapidly disintegrating security situation, highlighted by the recent kidnapping.
In Port-au-Prince, shops, schools and government buildings were closed, but schools reopened in several other cities across the country.
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