On Wednesday, Haitian citizens took to the streets to demand the release of Cuban doctor Daymara Perez, who was kidnapped by gangs in Petit Goave province on Jan. 13.
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The demonstration led to a transport disruption on National Route 2 and businesses closure. "Crime cannot reign in our country. If Perez is not freed, we will intensify our demonstration," protesters warned.
A resident in Haiti since 2020, Perez was heading work on a public bus when gang members grabbed her in the Martissant neighborhood. “She was the only passenger who was kidnapped,” lamented her boss, the Notre Dame Hospital Director Fred Jasmin, who also confirmed that abductors demanded a US$100.000 ransom.
Although the doctor is not a special envoy of the Cuban government, its Embassy assured that it will support her relatives and coordinate efforts with the Haitian Police to speed up her release.
On Wednesday, Haitian Health Minister Laure Adrien denied reports on the Cuban government’s withdrawal of 78 doctors from their missions in Haiti due to the increase in the kidnapping of foreign residents.
“Over the last 15 days, only 28 Cuban collaborators have left the country: 10 of them traveled abroad for vacations, and the other 18 left because they had already finished their missions,” Adrien detailed.
Between 2020 and 20021, the Center for Human Rights Analysis and Research (CARDH) counted 1,000 kidnapping cases, 81 of which had foreigners residing in Haiti as victims.