Gang in Haiti kidnaps Cuban worker from a medical brigade

() — A Cuban citizen who worked in Haiti as part of a medical brigade run by the Cuban government was kidnapped by one of the country’s gangs, according to a statement from the Cuban Ministry of Health published Tuesday.

Alejandro Aguilera Milanés was working as a driver for the medical brigade, the statement said, when he was kidnapped on January 23 by an unidentified gang.

According to the Cuban Ministry of Health, Cuban officials have been in contact with their Haitian counterparts to secure Aguilera’s release.

The Haitian government is aware of the kidnapping, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s adviser, Jean-Junior Joseph, said Tuesday.

“According to our Foreign Minister, Mr. JV Geneus, the Haitian authorities are working on it,” Joseph told .

Cuban medical brigades have long operated in neighboring Haiti, but recently an increase in gang-related violence and kidnappings has forced many of them to cease operations in the country.