• America A criminal gang kidnaps 15 American missionaries in Haiti

  • Terror The 400 Mawozo of Haiti: a criminal gang more powerful than the security forces

Two of the seventeen Americans kidnapped more than a month ago by an armed gang in Haiti were released and are safe, said the religious congregation to which they all belong,

Christian Aid Ministries (CAM).

In a statement posted on its website, the congregation stated that it received information that "two of the hostages in Haiti have been released",

after five weeks without news

about the whereabouts of the kidnapped group, made up of missionaries and their families.

"We can only provide limited information, but we can confirm that the two hostages who have been released are

safe, in good spirits,

and are being cared for," said the missionaries association, based in the state of Ohio, in the Midwest United States.

The group said that it continues to pray for "the fifteen people who are still kidnapped", about whom it did not offer any information.

The missionaries and their families, including

16 Americans and a Canadian

, were kidnapped on October 16 after visiting an orphanage on the outskirts of the Haitian capital.

The group, which

included five children

, fell into the hands of the

400 Mawozo

criminal

gang,

one of the most dangerous in Haiti and which controls the Croix-des-Bouquets district, where they were kidnapped.

The White House said three weeks ago that it had seen "proof of life" of at least some of them, and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sent agents to Haiti from the outset to try to locate them.

The US government made it clear at all times, however, that it would

not negotiate with the captors,

who were asking for a ransom of 17 million dollars, one for each of the kidnapped.

The Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights (CARDH), an NGO that has specialized in monitoring kidnapping cases, revealed that the 400 Mawozo also

demand the release of one of their leaders,

who is serving a sentence in the National Penitentiary.

In its brief statement, the missionary congregation said

it could not confirm the names of the two freed people

, where they are now, or "the reasons why they have been released," and asked those who are aware of what happened for discretion. .

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a question from Efe about whether it can confirm the release of two of the hostages.

Indiscriminate kidnappings have become commonplace in Haiti and have skyrocketed especially in recent months, following the assassination of President

Jovenel Moise, which

occurred on July 7 and caused great instability in the country.

The CARDH has counted

803 kidnappings between January and the end of October,

including 54 foreigners from four countries, but it is not usual for hostages to spend as much time being kidnapped as has happened in the case of the North American group.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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