American YouTuber Held Captive in Crisis-Hit Haiti Despite Paying Thousands in Ransom

Adisson Pierre Maalouf, an American YouTuber known as "YourFellowArab," said he's currently not able to leave Haiti after becoming embroiled with some of the criminal organization controlling large swaths of the country.

Maalouf, who has over 1.4 million subscribers on YouTube, initially travelled to the Caribbean country with the goal of interviewing Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier," its top gang leader who has become a powerful player in the current chaotic scenario.

However, he didn't manage to do it. He was taken along with a Haitian fixer by a rival gang and told he needed to pay $50,000 in ransom to be released. "Everything I have seen in this country is corruption, people taking bribes, police officers working with gangs," Maalouf told VOA after he was released by the gang Sunday. "The reason we were kidnapped was because we were set up by corrupt police officers," he added.

However, that has not been the end of it. On Monday, he published on X that he was still unable to leave the country as he had been detained again. "After everything, I was peacefully leaving and someone tried to extort me AGAIN and now I am detained for no reason and no explanation," he wrote.

The publication was also seeming to address backlash received for criticizing the country's current situation. He said he knew how risky his trip was before taking it. "That's what I do, I travel to dangerous places, I speak to people who are dangerous to understand their stories and hear their voice, but after this I'm done," he said.

Haiti continues immersed in chaos as the country's recently-formed transitional council, tasked with verseeing a political transition, is slow to get going. Following weeks of negotiations, the body issued its first statement this week, vowing to restore "public and democratic order."

"We are determined to alleviate the suffering of the Haitian people, trapped for too long between bad governance, multi-faceted violence and disregard for their perspectives and needs," said the statement from the Presidential Council, which has yet to be officially installed as it's still waiting for it to be officially confirmed. Once that happens, the body will be tasked with appointing a new president, approving a multinational security force to deal with the violence and pave the way for general elections.

Chérizier, the gang leader, has spoken against the second item. Speaking to the U.K.'s Sky News last week, he said he'd be willing to consider calling a ceasefire if his armed organization is included in the current talks aimed at lifting the country from its current state of collapse. He also warned that any foreign peacekeeping mission that could be deployed in the country would be considered an enemy and meet armed resistance.