Kidnappings Plague Residents Across Haiti

[brentspeak]

By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU, Associated Press Writer Mon Dec 26, 2:18 PM ET

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Quesnel Durosier walked out of a bank with $3,500 tucked into his sock, buoyed by thoughts of his upcoming wedding. Seconds later, a car cut him off, gunmen sprang out and shoved him into the car along with a woman passer-by. What followed was a nightmare of torture and death threats for these latest victims of a wave of attacks that has made impoverished Haiti the kidnapping capital of the Americas.


Everyone is a target — schoolchildren, foreign aid workers and pedestrians in the upscale and heavily guarded Petionville district of the capital, where Durosier and the unidentified woman were snatched.

Tourists are not targeted, but only because they are virtually nonexistent.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051226/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/haiti_kidnappings_1

[Julius Civitatus]

1. This has been a common practice in Latin America for a long time

They call it "secuestro express", basically the kidnapping of regular folks (not necessarily rich or powerful), and torture them so their relatives would pony up whatever meager savings they have to rescue the unfortunate kidnapped. It is horrible and nasty, but it has been a common practice in places like Mexico, Colombia, Peru or Ecuador.

I guess this practice is spreading to other countries as well.

[soleft]

2. My friend is in Port-Au-Prince right now

A foreign Aid worker, has been there since June and she can't go anywhere by herself. She's enjoying her work, however, and extended her mission another six months. I guess it's her year of living dangerously.