The Cuban Embassy in Haiti confirmed this Wednesday that the island’s authorities maintain contact with the relatives of the Cuban doctor kidnapped in Haiti with the aim of assisting her with the necessary support and seeking her release.
READ ALSO:
A group of American missionaries is kidnapped in Haiti
According to a message published on the social network Twitter by the diplomatic headquarters, this support work was provided in the same way with two Cuban doctors who were kidnapped at the end of 2021 and later released in 2022 in Port-au-Prince, in the midst of the wave of violence facing the nation.
Dr. Daymara Helen PĂ©rez Alabedra has lived in Haiti since 2020 and was kidnapped on January 13 in Martissant, a town that connects the capital with the southern departments, and since June she has been under the influence of armed gangs.
Similar actions were maintained with the other two Cuban citizens kidnapped in this country and already released, who, like Dr. PĂ©rez Alabedra, are fulfilling personal employment contracts in Haiti.
– EmbaCuba Haiti (@EmbaCuba_Haiti)
January 20, 2022
PĂ©rez was on her way to the Notre Dame de Petit Goave hospital, about 58 kilometers southwest of Port-au-Prince, when she was intercepted by armed men. The medical director of the hospital, Fred Jasmin, assured that the kidnappers demanded a ransom.
In Petit Goave, hundreds of people went out to demonstrate this Wednesday demanding the release of the galena, erecting barricades of burning tires and closing the passage through National Route 2 that leads to the southern region of Haiti.
The protesters warned that if they do not release the doctor who, according to the Cuban embassy, ​​was in the neighboring nation for personal reasons, they will intensify their demonstration.
Haiti has experienced an increase in the political, economic and social crisis after the assassination of Jovenel MoĂŻse in July 2021 and armed gangs have taken control of various areas of the country and kidnappings have also skyrocketed in recent months.
Despite the promises of the authorities to combat the state of insecurity and to restore control and peace, about 1,005 kidnappings took place in 2021, according to the Center for Analysis and Research on Human Rights.