Against a backdrop of instability in Haiti, AP leads with distinctive coverage after a gang-led abduction.
When a notorious gang kidnapped 17 U.S.-based missionaries in Haiti nearly two weeks ago, APâs team in the region sprang into action, drawing on their deep knowledge of the countryâs ongoing chaos and violence to file a steady stream of breaking news and distinctive enterprise across formats on the unfolding situation.
Stringers Joseph Odelyn and Pierre Luxama provided some of the first photos and video from the orphanage the missionaries had visited before disappearing. Meanwhile, DĂĄnica Coto, APâs Caribbean correspondent in Puerto Rico, worked with local text stringer Evens Sanon and colleagues in the U.S. to rapidly file text stories for APâs international audience, explaining that such lawlessness has become commonplace in the country.
In the following days, the APâs coverage included live video of demonstrations calling for more security, aerial images of the route where the missionaries were abducted from Venezuela-based photographer MatĂas Delacroix and a video explainer on the ongoing instability in the country, which has been struggling with a spike in gang-related kidnappings.
The AP was also the first to source a video message from Wilson Joseph, leader of the 400 Mawozo gang behind the kidnapping, saying he would kill the missionaries if he didnât get the $1 million per-person ransom he had demanded earlier. The gang â whose name translates to 400 âinexperienced menâ â was also blamed for abducting five priests and two nuns earlier this year.
International Route 8, where 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary group were abducted by a violent gang, is empty of large trucks as a result of a transportation strike in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, Oct. 20, 2021, as workers protest the nationâs lack of security.
AP Photo / Matias Delacroix
People demonstrate for the release of 17 kidnapped missionaries near the Haitian headquarters of Christian Aid Ministries in Titanyen, north of Port-au-Prince, Oct. 19, 2021.
AP Photo / Joseph Odelyn
Security forces patrol the streets of Croix-des-Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 19, 2021, during a general strike as Haitian citizens demanded that authorities address the nationâs lack of security, days after 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary group were abducted by a gang.
AP Photo / Matias Delacroix
A police officer patrols the street of Croix-des-Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 19, 2021, during a general strike as Haitian citizens demanded that authorities address the nationâs lack of security.
AP Photo / Matias Delacroix
A sign stands outside Christian Aid Ministries in Titanyen, north of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 19, 2021, days after a gang kidnapped 17 members of the U.S.-based missionary group.
AP Photo / Joseph Odelyn
Barbecue, the leader of the G9 and Family gang, shouts slogans with his gang members after giving a speech, as he leads a march against kidnapping through La Saline neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 22, 2021. The group said they were also protesting poverty and for justice in the slaying of President Jovenel Moise.
AP Photo / Matias Delacroix
An aerial view of the Jalouise neighborhood at sunrise in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 19, 2021.
AP Photo / Matias Delacroix
A tire burns as vendors work in a market left empty due to a general strike in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 25, 2021. Citizens and workersâ unions called for another general strike to demand the end of kidnappings, violence and insecurity in the streets.
AP Photo / Matias Delacroix
A man and child collect plastic bottles in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 25, 2021, as citizens and workersâ unions called for another general strike to demand the end of kidnappings, violence and insecurity in the streets.
AP Photo / Matias Delacroix
A boy stands amid burning garbage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 25, 2021.
AP Photo / Matias Delacroix
APâs coverage also gave insight into the harrowing experience of family members of kidnapping victims through an exclusive interview with a Haitian woman whose father was abducted in late September. âWhen they called, they would say very harsh, cruel (things): âYou donât want your husband anymore? We donât mind, we can kill him and you can pick him up from a pile of trash,ââ said Doris Michel, who called on the U.S. government to act on Haitiâs worsening situation.
For their tireless work in demonstrating APâs speed, global reach and depth across formats in covering one of Haitiâs largest recent kidnappings, the Haiti/Caribbean team of Pierre Luxama, DĂĄnica Coto, Matias Delacroix, Joseph Odelyn and Evens Sanon is APâs Best of the Week â Second Winner.
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