Haiti gang demand $17m ransom for release of kidnapped American and Canadian missionaries
A ransom of $1m (£720,000) is being demanded for each of the 17 American and Canadian missionaries kidnapped in Haiti.
The country’s justice minister, Liszt Quitel, said talks are under way with gang to release the group, who were kidnapped over the weekend outside Port-au-Prince.
They were taken by a gang called 400 Mawozo, who are now demanding a total of $17m (£12.3m).
Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas, and a surge in gang violence has displaced thousands of people. AP file pic
Mr Quitel added that the FBI and Haitian police are advising the Christian Aid Ministries – the non-profit aid agency the group were part of – who were called about a ransom after the missionaries were kidnapped.
The Ohio-based organisation called for prayers for the “Haitian and American civil authorities who are working to resolve this situation”.
Among the 16 Americans and one Canadian are five children, including an eight-month-old baby.
They were abducted in Croix-des-Bouquets, about eight miles outside the capital.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the US government is “relentlessly focused” on the kidnapping. and is in constant communication with Haitian police and the missionaries’ church.
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“Unfortunately, this is also indicative of a much larger problem and that is a security situation that is quite simply unsustainable,” Mr Blinken said, referring to gangs that control parts of Port-au-Prince.
Doris Michel, a Haitian-American woman, has blamed Haiti’s government for the increase in kidnappings after her 89-year-old father was kidnapped last month.
He was taken by in a gang-controlled area and the kidnappers demanded $6m (£4.3m) in ransom, which later increased to $10m (£7.26m).
“We kept saying, ‘We don’t have that kind of money,'” Ms Michel recalled. “Then it switched to, ‘What kind of money do you have?'”
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She added that the hostages survived on a bowl of rice a day and three bags of water.
Ms Michel dropped off the money at a specific location, only for the gang members to claim they didn’t receive it. They demanded another payment.
She said the FBI did little to help and advised her to gather more money and restart negotiations, while Haitian police did not get involved.
Her father, who fought in the Vietnam war, was released after 11 days.
DHL Express is suspending some shipments to the US as Donald Trump’s new tariff regime takes effect.
From 21 April, shipments worth more than $800 (£603) to US consumers from “any origin” will be temporarily suspended.
New rules that came into effect at the start of April made such shipments subject to increased customs checks.
“This change has caused a surge in formal customs clearances, which we are handling around the clock,” said the parcel delivery service.
Shipments going from business to business worth more than $800 aren’t affected by the suspension, but DHL warned they may also face delays.
Shipments under $800 to either businesses or consumers are not impacted, but one British cycle manufacturer suggested its US customers may need to split orders over $800 into “smaller shipments” to avoid the red tape.
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From May, shipments from China and Hong Kong that are worth less than $800 “will be subject to all applicable duties”, according to the White House.
“President Trump is targeting deceptive shipping practices by Chinese-based shippers, many of whom hide illicit substances, including synthetic opioids, in low-value packages,” it said in a statement.
Until now, deliveries worth less than $800 didn’t incur any duties, which allowed low-cost companies Chinese like Shein and Temu to make inroads in the US.
Both have warned their prices will now rise because of the rule changes, starting on 25 April.
Anti-Trump protests took place across America on Saturday, with demonstrators decrying the administration’s immigration crackdown and mass firings at government agencies.
Events ranged from small local marches to a rally in front of the White House and a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration of the start of the Revolutionary War 250 years ago.
Thomas Bassford, 80, was at the battle reenactment with his two grandsons, as well as his partner and daughter.
He said: “This is a very perilous time in America for liberty. I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.”
At events across the country, people carried banners with slogans including “Trump fascist regime must go now!”, “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state,” and “Fight fiercely, Harvard, fight,” referencing the university’s recent refusal to hand over much of its control to the government.
Some signs name-checked Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian citizen living in Maryland, who the Justice Department admits was mistakenly deported to his home country.
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Pic: AP
People waved US flags, some of them held upside down to signal distress. In San Francisco, hundreds of people spelt out “Impeach & Remove” on a beach, also with an inverted US flag.
People walked through downtown Anchorage in Alaska with handmade signs listing reasons why they were demonstrating, including one that read: “No sign is BIG enough to list ALL of the reasons I’m here!”
Pic: AP
Protests also took place outside Tesla car dealerships against the role Elon Musk ahas played in downsizing the federal government as de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide demonstrations.
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Organisers are opposing what they call Mr Trump’s civil rights violations and constitutional violations, including efforts to deport scores of immigrants and to scale back the federal government by firing thousands of government workers and effectively shuttering entire agencies.
The Trump administration, among other things, has moved to shutter Social Security Administration field offices, cut funding for government health programs and scale back protections for transgender people.
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