Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele is sending 2,000 troops to Haiti, following the kidnapping and disappearance of 4 Salvadoran medical military personnel. The four men went missing after armed men ambushed their vehicle on October 21.
The announcement by El Salvador occurred the same day that Haiti’s unelected interim government pushed back elections yet again: this time to July 2027.
Haiti has not held democratic elections in 10 years.
The military deployment by Bukele brings Salvadoran troop numbers up to 2,500: roughly the same number as the United Nations peacekeeping mission that has been in the country since 2024.
In an announcement on social media, Bukele promised to “destroy” gangs that have wreaked havoc in Haiti, particularly in and around Port-au-Prince.
“We have lived a bloodbath even worse than what Haiti is enduring now,” said Bukele in the public statement. “But now we are living in peace.”
Bukele instituted a crackdown in El Salvador that granted broad powers to the police and military. His “iron fist” policies did indeed reduce crime, but as PWS has reported before, they have also led to grave human rights violations.
Beyond finding answers for the 4 missing medics, it’s unclear what El Salvador hoped to accomplish with the deployment.
The UN peacekeeping mission is nominally led by Kenyan officials, but the US is exerting de facto control over operations.
Erik Prince, of Palantir fame, also manages a security contract in the country, assisting with drone operations and training Haitian security forces.
Transitional authorities have delayed elections repeatedly, claiming that conditions in the country are too dangerous for voter registration.
It isn’t immediately clear how Salvadoran troops are going to change that dynamic.
