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White House reiterates travel warning to Haiti as kidnappers demand $1 million per hostage

Miami Herald - 10/19/2021

The White House reiterated Tuesday its warning to Americans not to visit Haiti, noting that a State Department warning against travel to the Caribbean nation is at its highest level as U.S. law enforcement grapples with a hostage crisis there involving 16 Americans.

Gang members who abducted the American missionaries and one Canadian national over the weekend outside of Port-au-Prince are demanding $1 million for the release of each hostage, two sources, including a high-ranking Haitian police official, told the Miami Herald.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday that the Biden administration would decline to discuss details of the case until each American is freed and safe. But she said that longstanding U.S. policy against ransom payments has not changed.

“Kidnapping is widespread, and victims regularly include U.S. citizens,” Psaki said. “We know these groups target U.S. citizens who they assume have the resources and finances to pay ransoms even if that is not the case.”

Saturday’s mass kidnapping has brought Haiti’s security crisis to a boil, with general strikes launched by the country’s transport sector and business community against surging crime there entering a second day on Tuesday.

The FBI is leading the U.S. effort to free the hostages, and has a team on the ground in Haiti alongside State Department officials working toward their release with the Haitian National Police. They are in touch with the gang responsible.

©2021 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.