Cuban Doctor kidnapped in Haiti released in a safe and sound condition

Cuban Doctor, who was abducted on January 13, 2022, in Haiti, has now been released by the kidnappers in a safe and sound condition, the embassy officials of Cuba noted. Dr Daymara Helen Perez was released on Sunday after being kidnapped for ten days. 

“She is safe and is in good health; we have already informed and contacted her mother, a 12-year-old son and other family members,” Embassy officials cited while informing the media. 

How was the Cuban Doctor kidnapped? 

On January 13, 2022, Perez was travelling in a bus in Martissant to the Notre Dame de Petit Goave Hospital, southwest of the capital, when she was blocked by armed men and was kidnapped. Often kidnapping cases are being reported in Martissant and is currently under the control of the Haitian gangs since last June. 

Petit Goave hospital’s Medical Director confirmed that the abductors asked for a ransom amount of US$100,000. Although, it has yet not been clarified whether the ransom amount has been paid to the kidnappers or not. 

The previous year, in the month of December, two individuals of the Cuban nationality were kidnapped by the Haitian gangs, which were later safely released in the first week of this year. This has not happened for the first time when an individual from another country has been kidnapped in Haiti.

In the month of October 2021, around 16 the United States and one Canadian missionary were abducted on their way back by the Haitian Mawozo gang, who later managed to escape. 

Centre for Analysis and Research on Human Rights recently released a report, which cites that more than a thousand kidnappings took place in the most-impoverished nation of the Caribbean and Latin American region during the year of 2021. This is an alarming sign for the Haitian government, as it is on the list of unsafe destinations across the world.