The payment of 50,000 dollars (41,500 euros) in ransom was not enough. After the family of Oxane Dorcélus gathered this considerable sum and gave it to their captors, they agreed to release, on Wednesday April 14, the unfortunate Haitian septuagenarian. But they are still holding captive their nine other hostages, kidnapped like her, three days earlier, in the western suburbs of Port-au-Prince.
This group of ten people, including seven Catholic religious – five Haitian clergymen as well as a nun and a French priest -, went, Sunday, April 11, to the installation ceremony of a young priest – the son of Mr.me Dorcélus – in his new parish, in Galette-Chambon, not far from the Haitian capital, when he was ambushed in Croix-des-Bouquets.
Very quickly, the police suspected the infamous 400 Mawozo armed gang, active in the city, to be behind the kidnapping. The same evening, Loudger Mazile, spokesperson for the Episcopal Conference of Haiti, announced that the kidnappers demanded a ransom of $ 1 million (831,000 euros).
“No one is safe from kidnapping”
While this Caribbean republic has been sinking, since February, into an increasingly serious political and institutional crisis, abuses are increasing and villainous kidnappings have become commonplace. This crime nevertheless sowed consternation in Haiti: criminals are no longer afraid to attack the clergy. “We see the descent into hell of Haitian society, M movedgr Max Leroy Mésidor, Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, the day after the kidnapping. The violence of armed gangs takes an unprecedented proportion ”, the prelate was indignant, incriminating in passing “The public authorities who are doing nothing to resolve this crisis”, but also “Complacency and complicity, wherever they come from”.
The shock wave caused by this new criminal act brought down the government: Wednesday, April 14, the Prime Minister, Joseph Jouthe, resigned to President Jovenel Moïse. In the process, the Head of State replaced him with Claude Joseph, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs.
But this reshuffle was not enough to calm the anger of Haitian society: Thursday, April 15, the private sector and schools observed the call for a general strike launched by the Catholic Church. In Port-au-Prince and in the main cities of the country, economic activity slowed down, while, in the churches, the Masses took on the appearance of political meetings and the sermons denounced the carelessness of the authorities.
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