Haiti PM condemns gangs, kidnappings in public address

By EVENS SANON and DÁNICA COTO
Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has condemned gangs and kidnappings in a prerecorded address in which he also assured that the country isn’t running out of fuel despite severe shortages that sparked recent strikes. The message posted Friday is the first time Henry has acknowledged those issues in a public address since the Oct. 16 kidnapping of 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary group. The 16 Americans, one Canadian and their Haitian driver were abducted amid a spike in gang-related kidnappings that police are struggling to control. Henry said “the only option for bandits and all their sponsors is imprisonment or death.”