El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele posted videos on Wednesday showing heavily armed Salvadoran soldiers patrolling streets in Haiti and being greeted by residents, alongside a message on X that read: “Gather your gangs so we can go fight with them.” The posts marked the latest public escalation from Bukele, who has sent more than 2,000 troops and military hardware to the Caribbean nation in recent weeks.
The deployment followed the disappearance of four Salvadoran aviation technicians on October 18, who were attacked by gangs while traveling in Haiti. Haitian national police announced Tuesday that they had recovered the burned-out truck the men were using, found in the Santo neighborhood of the Croix-des-Bouquets community outside Port-au-Prince, an area under gang control. The four men themselves remain missing. Police located the vehicle during a joint operation with the United Nations-backed multinational Gang Suppression Force (GSF) and Salvadoran troops.
Helicopters Open Fire on Gangs
On Tuesday, Bukele shared a video he said showed Salvadoran military helicopters firing on gangs that were attacking GSF soldiers from Chad. “The gangs no longer have the upper hand,” he wrote. In a separate post, he said Salvadoran forces were in Haiti to help locals free themselves from gang control. “We are right there beside you,” he wrote.
The military presence has drawn scrutiny over command authority and the rules governing the use of force.
Port-au-Prince Officials Insist Forces Support the State
Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime has sought to reassure the public that the foreign forces operate under Haitian authority. “The international forces did not come to replace the state. They came to support it, to reinforce our capacity,” he said Tuesday, speaking alongside the Salvadoran commander in charge of the troops as well as Haitian and GSF commanders.
The security situation on the ground remains volatile. Wilson Joseph, the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang known as Lanmo Sanjou, told the Associated Press that he had written to the UN Secretary-General requesting an opportunity for dialogue, citing concern over civilian casualties amid the surge in fighting.
Civilians Bear the Cost of Escalation
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that an uptick in fighting since the Salvadoran technicians disappeared has directly harmed civilians in Port-au-Prince. The organization said 30 people, including women and children, were injured in the eight days following October 18 by heavy gunfire and drone explosions.
BREAKING | In Haitian Creole, El Salvador’s President Bukele gives Haitian gangs an ultimatum: release four Salvadoran hostages alive and unharmed or face further military action. He says a rescue operation has begun. No deadline was announced • ___ pic.twitter.com/ZPVW4O06aT
The conflict has also disrupted food and aid deliveries, leaving approximately 5.94 million Haitians facing acute hunger, according to an international food security assessment released last month.
Elections Delayed to 2027
The military escalation unfolds as Haiti’s political transition stalls. The country has had no elected government since 2021, when President Jovenel Moise was assassinated. Last month, the nine-member Provisional Electoral Council announced it would push the first round of national elections from December 13 to July 18, 2027, with a second round scheduled for October 4, 2027. Voter registration has struggled to gain ground: fewer than one million people have registered out of roughly 6.5 million Haitians holding identification cards, as gang-controlled roads have prevented officials from reaching registration centers and violence has displaced many from their homes.
The four Salvadoran technicians remain unaccounted for, and the Provisional Electoral Council’s first round of voting is now scheduled for July 18, 2027.
