One of the headline stories almost exactly a year ago was the kidnapping of 16 American missionaries (and 1 Canadian) in Haiti by a local gang. The situation resolved itself a few months later, after a number of the hostages escaped, and the rest were released by the gang after ransom money was paid. Now, The United States has officially filed charges against three gang leaders involved in the kidnapping. They also offered a $3 Million reward for information that leads to the 3 gang leader’s arrests. Earlier this year, a separate gang leader was extradited to the US by Haitian authorities, however it is unlikely that a similar thing will happen, as the situation in the country has deteriorated dramatically. Haitian authorities have limited control over the country, and there are doubts that they would be able to track down and arrest the three men the US is seeking.
Because of the situation in Haiti, I think the US’s filing of charges against the gang leaders is nothing more than a formality. Unless order is established and control of Haiti is returned to its government, the chances of Haitian authorities being able to capture the leaders are low, nigh impossible. This is more of an attempt to “save face”, as the US government severely mishandled the hostage situation back when it happened. The only reason the hostages managed to get home unharmed was because the church they were working for managed to get enough money to pay the ransom. U.S. officials at the time repeated the idea of never negotiating with terrorists, but their reach wasn’t long enough to handle the situation.
The kidnappings and the filing of these charges are the results of what is essentially a terrorist group acting out on an international stage. Due to the volatile state of the country they are in, it is hard for countries like the US to effectively respond without taking drastic measures, such as a large scale military intervention (like Afghanistan after 9/11).
Article: Person, & Ellsworth, B. (2022, November 7). U.S. charges Haitian gang leaders for 2021 missionary kidnapping. Reuters. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://www.reuters.com/world/us-charges-haitian-gang-leaders-2021-missionary-kidnapping-2022-11-07/