Haiti is essentially a failed state. It is not a place to visit, especially now, but one YouTuber thought it would be a good idea to try and interview the nation’s top gang leader. How do you think it turned out?
The island nation, already impoverished, was never the gem of the Caribbean. It did receive the support of liberal America, who rushed to its defense when former President Donald Trump included Haiti on his list of “s**thole countries” when discussing immigration. It went through a de facto civil war during the Bush presidency, which ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Natural disasters struck the island in 2010 and 2021 through two major earthquakes. Also, in 2021, the president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated.
Now, gang lords have taken over the country, where bodies are all over the place in the capital Port-au-Prince. It’s the irony of it all that gets me with these news reports of the appalling conditions, and these people were the ones trying to say Trump was wrong about the country that’s arguably a dumpster fire.
So, why would Addison Pierre Maalouf, the YouTuber who thought it would be grand to interview Haitian crime lord “Barbeque,” knowing that he would probably be kidnapped or killed as soon as he left the plane? Who knows, but that’s exactly what happened. I get that this probably would have been a views avalanche for Mr. Maalouf, but he’s currently being held hostage by a man known for cannibalism (via NY Post):
An American YouTube star has been kidnapped in Haiti by one of the gangs that have become its de facto rulers, as he was attempting to interview the nation’s most notorious gang leader.
Addison Pierre Maalouf, known online as YourFellowArab or just “Arab,” traveled from his home in Atlanta to interview Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, the leader of the notorious G9 Family and Allies gang that has seized control of the government, according to Haiti 24.net.
But just 24 hours after he arrived in the country, Maalouf and a Haitian colleague were taken by members of the 400 Mawozo gang on March 14.
He is being held for a $600,000 ransom, and even though $40,000 has already been paid, the kidnappers are continuing to demand a large sum of money to secure Maalouf’s release, the Haitian outlet reports.
[…]
… another YouTuber, Miles “Lord Miles” Routledge, claimed he spoke directly with Maalouf using his kidnappers’ phone.
[…]
“Arab has been kept in a cage in a place on the eastern outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince,” Routledge wrote.
“His location is known.”
Are we shocked that the State Department gave Haiti a “do not travel” designation? Again, an odd warning for a place liberal America tried to market as a stable, prosperous tropical paradise. Kidnapping is widespread, and often, the victims are Americans—that’s a fact.
Will Maalouf be released? Probably. Or he’ll be eaten.