Dominican diplomat freed four days after Haiti kidnap

(Reuters) – A Dominican diplomat was kidnapped in Haiti and released after four days, the Dominican Republic’s foreign minister said on Monday, in an abduction that coincides with a spike in gang violence in the Caribbean country.

Carlos Guillen, an attache for the Dominican embassy, went missing on Friday as he was driving from Port-au-Prince to the Dominican border town of Jimani, prompting the Dominican military to reinforce border surveillance.

“We thank everyone who actively participated in his release,” wrote Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez on Twitter, without elaborating.

Haiti has seen nearly two weeks of bloody gang turf wars in areas near the capital of Port-au-Prince that have killed at least 20 people. Gangs have steadily boosted their power since the July assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

(Reporting by Gessika Thomas in Port-au-Prince and Brian Ellsworth in Miami; Editing by Nick Macfie)