The Dominican Embassy's Trade Attaché Is Kidnapped in Haiti

The 400 Mawozo gang demands a ransom of US$500,000 for his release.

On Sunday, the Dominican Republic asked Haitian authorities to investigate the kidnapping of the commercial counselor to its embassy in Port-au-Prince Carlos Guillen, who disappeared on Friday in the Croix-des-Bouquets district while heading to the border.

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According to Guillen's relatives, the Counselor traveled accompanied by another person, who was released soon after being detained. The Dominican embassy provided the Haitian police with a screen capture of the latest calls received by Guillen to facilitate investigations.

"We demand the prompt investigation of the kidnapping to clarify the kidnapping details and ensure that Guillen is released safe and sound," Dominican Ambassador to Haiti Faruk Castillo stated.

A source from the Dominican Foreign Affairs Ministry told the AFP agency that the 400 Mawozo armed gang perpetrated Guillen's abduction and demanded a ransom of US$500,000 for his release.

In October, this gang, which controls the Croix-des-Bouquets district, kidnapped 17 U.S. missionaries and their relatives, for whom they demanded a US$17 million ransom. The disputes between the 400 Mawozo gang with the Chen Mechan group over the control of areas of the Haitian capital have killed at least 20 civilians and displaced hundreds of people.

In February, Dominican President Luis Abinader inaugurated the building works of a border fence with Haiti to fight “the drugs, arms trafficking, and smuggling activities of the neighboring country’s gangs."

Human rights organizations forcibly rejected this decision, arguing that it lacks a rights-based approach and will exacerbate discrimination against Haitian migrants or Dominicans of Haitian descent.