CSMS Magazine Staff Writers
A group of armed men last Monday entered the home of Guido Vitiello, an Italian businessman in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The sot him, tied him to a chair before abducting his wife Gigliola Martino. According to the ministry of interior, Vitielo, a 67-year-old man later died of his wounds in a Port-au-Prince hospital. Investigators thought Gigliola Martino, 65, was kidnapped for ransom. Haitian authorities have reported that Italian ambassador in the neighboring Dominican Republic has been dispatched to Port-au-Prince to assist the family and keep contacts with local authorities. The same Martino was also kidnapped last year, but was released unharmed shortly thereafter. She has been living in Haiti for about 30 years with her husband and two children. Many believe that the relative calm that Haiti enjoyed shortly after Rene Preval took office is now history. Assassinations, kidnapping and arm robbery have been for some time a daily routine. Since May, dozens of foreigners and Haitians have been kidnapped and gang fighting has forced hundreds to flee their homes in Prot-au-Prince. In the town of Saint Louis Du Nord, on the northern coast, two people were abducted last week and were forced to pay a ransom before they were set free by unidentified gunmen. That has prompted fear among many expatriates from that region who had been planning for a long time to fly to Haiti to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the town. Many of the expatriates have already cancelled their tickets.
