El Salvador's Haiti mission
All our fact-checked stories about the Salvadoran troops in Haiti, newest first, each linked to its sources. Updated with every edition.
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Theresa Ejiro EfiakpovworeBukele says Salvadoran helicopters repelled a gang attack on Chadian soldiers in Haiti
President Nayib Bukele said on X on Tuesday night that Salvadoran forces deployed in Haiti came to the aid of Chadian soldiers from the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) who were under attack by gangs, and that they repelled the attackers with attack helicopters. "The gangs no longer have the upper hand," he wrote. Diario La Página and Infobae reported the announcement. According to La Página, a helicopter patrolled over the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets at 6:16 p.m., where gunfire was heard. El Salvador has more than 2,000 soldiers in Haiti searching for four Salvadoran aviation technicians missing since October 18.
Bukele sends a message in Creole to the Haitian people: "Haiti will be free"
President Nayib Bukele posted a message in Haitian Creole on X addressed to the people of Haiti. In it he recalled Jean-Jacques Dessalines, leader of Haiti's independence, and compared those who betrayed him with those who today are gang members, finance gangs or give them weapons. Bukele said El Salvador can help Haitians defeat them, but that it is not an invader. According to the Presidential Press Secretariat, he said: "We are on the same side as you. We will help you take back the country from the hands of the traitors who betray Dessalines' legacy. And, finally, Haiti will be free" (our translation). Diario La Página and elsalvador.com published the message.
The UN says most of the additional Salvadoran troops in Haiti are not part of the GSF
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said that "the vast majority of these personnel are not deployed under the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) and therefore fall outside the scope and reporting of the United Nations Support Office" (our translation), as reported by elsalvador.com. The UN did not say how many Salvadoran soldiers belong to each group. The spokesman repeated that all security operations in Haiti, inside or outside the GSF, must comply with international law. Diario Co Latino also reported the clarification, in a piece critical of the Salvadoran deployment.
Haiti's prime minister highlights support from El Salvador and Bukele in the offensive against gangs
Haiti's prime minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, reaffirmed at a press conference devoted to security that his government aims to regain control of the territory with the Haitian National Police (PNH) and the Armed Forces of Haiti (FAd'H), according to Diario La Página and El Diario de Hoy. Fils-Aimé said these forces are joining efforts around a common strategy and specifically cited the support of President Nayib Bukele and El Salvador. He also warned that the actions will reach what he called "gangs in ties" (our translation), referring to powerful networks linked to crime.
Salvadoran troops launch their first major operation against gangs in Haiti's Cul-de-Sac plain
Salvadoran troops on Monday launched their first major operation in the Cul-de-Sac plain, northeast of Port-au-Prince, against the Chen Mechan and 400 Mawozo gangs, which are blamed for the disappearance of four Salvadoran soldiers, according to EFE as cited by Infobae, 20minutos, Acento and RTVE. Around ten armored vehicles and soldiers with assault rifles advanced in the Santo and Croix-des-Missions sectors; according to the Haitian press, at least ten gang members were killed in the clashes, and Infobae notes that no casualties among the Salvadoran forces, the Haitian National Police or civilians have been officially reported. The Haitian National Police announced a broad operation in the area with support from the UN-mandated Gang Suppression Force, which according to its statement aims "to eliminate toll checkpoints, put an end to kidnapping attempts and to the abuse the population suffers at the hands of terrorist bandits in the Cul-de-Sac plain" (our translation). President Nayib Bukele shared on X a video of Salvadoran armored vehicles in Haiti accompanied only by El Salvador's flag; Diario Libre notes the video does not say where or when it was filmed. The whereabouts of the four Salvadorans remain officially unconfirmed.
400 Mawozo leader tells AP, without evidence, that the four Salvadoran technicians are dead
Wilson Joseph, alias Lanmò Sanjou, head of the Haitian gang 400 Mawozo, confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that he wrote to the UN Secretary-General to ask for a delegation for dialogue and mediation, according to the AP report published by The Morning Call and Listín Diario. Joseph told AP that the four Salvadoran aviation technicians are dead and that the October 18 attack took place in the territory of Chen Mechan, another gang; he provided no evidence. According to AP, the Haitian government has said the four were kidnapped and the government of El Salvador believes they are still alive. Joseph said he is willing to talk and lay down arms, but refused to say what he wants in return. In his letter he wrote: "I remain convinced that dialogue must prevail over force" (our translation).
A letter attributed to the head of Haiti's 400 Mawozo gang asks the UN to mediate talks, as the search for four Salvadoran soldiers continues
Haitian media circulated a letter, dated November 1 and reportedly addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in which the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, Wilson Joseph, alias Lanmò San Jou, asks for a United Nations delegation to facilitate talks with the international forces in Haiti, according to DW, La Página, Contrapunto and Infobae. The gang operates in Croix-des-Bouquets, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, the area where four Salvadoran soldiers were attacked on October 18. According to DW and La Página, the letter argues that President Nayib Bukele's "threats" against the gangs to hand over the soldiers could increase violence, and says: "Our country, deeply punished by insecurity and poverty, needs dialogue, justice and reconciliation, not new human losses" (our translation). The United States offers up to one million dollars for information leading to his capture. According to El Diario de Hoy, 15 days after the ambush the whereabouts of the four soldiers are still unconfirmed.
Trump says he spoke with Bukele about Haiti and told him to do "what he has to do"; Bukele confirms it
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that he spoke with Nayib Bukele about the situation in Haiti, where El Salvador has deployed troops to search for four Salvadoran air technicians missing since an ambush. According to Trump, he told Bukele that he runs his country and has to do what he has to do, and added that Bukele does not need help. Bukele replied on X with a short "Can confirm." Trump also claimed that some of Bukele's men had been killed in Haiti, a claim the Salvadoran president did not address, according to Diario El Mundo. El Salvador's ambassador to the U.S., Milena Mayorga, thanked Trump for the "vote of confidence" (our translation), according to the same outlet.
Bukele denies that El Salvador's mission in Haiti bombed civilians, as the NGO UNA-Haiti alleged
President Nayib Bukele rejected on X an accusation by the United Nations Association Haiti (UNA-Haiti), which in a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres accused Salvadoran troops of air strikes and helicopter gunship attacks on civilian neighborhoods since October 22. Bukele said the mission has no bombs, that its attack helicopters only arrived in Haiti on October 29, one day after the date of the letter, and that as of this Saturday they have not flown a single mission. In his own words: "These NGOs lie with impunity, while wielding enormous influence over international organizations." The letter, signed by UNA-Haiti's founder, asks the UN to investigate alleged civilian deaths, according to Diario El Mundo.
- Press Secretariat: The Press Secretariat relays Bukele's response to UNA-Haiti: he says the Salvadoran mission has no bombs and accuses NGOs of lying
- Bukele: Denies, in English, that the Haiti mission bombed civilians: he says it has no bombs and its attack helicopters arrived on October 29 and have not flown
Salvadoran soldiers carry out their first patrols in Port-au-Prince and set up a base in Tabarre
Salvadoran soldiers deployed in Haiti carried out their first patrols in Port-au-Prince on Friday, October 30, according to the EFE news agency as cited by El Diario de Hoy and Infobae. They drove through Tabarre and the area around Toussaint Louverture International Airport in trucks and armored vehicles, supported by helicopters. According to local Haitian media cited by EFE, the troops set up a base in Tabarre, near the U.S. embassy. The operation is searching for four Salvadoran soldiers missing since an ambush on October 18; as of Friday's report, their whereabouts were unknown.
Bukele: troops will leave Haiti once the four air technicians are handed over, or they will rescue them "by force"
At a joint press conference with Peru's president, Keiko Fujimori, on Thursday night, October 29, at the Presidential House, Nayib Bukele said the Salvadoran mission in Haiti aims to rescue the four missing air technicians, not to wipe out Haiti's gangs. He warned that if they are not handed over willingly, "we are going to rescue them by force" (our translation), and that the forces will act against the gangs if they try to block the rescue. Bukele said El Salvador has no intention of staying permanently and that, if the four air technicians are handed over, the troops would withdraw that same day. He gave no end date for the mission, saying its length depends on when they are handed over.
Bukele tells Haitians the Salvadoran deployment in Haiti "is not an invasion"
President Nayib Bukele posted a message on X in Haitian Creole addressed to the people of Haiti, saying El Salvador is close to finishing the deployment of its soldiers and equipment there. According to the Presidency's press office, Bukele stated: "This is not an operation against the Haitian people, nor an invasion of the country of Haiti" (our translation). In the message he said the only goal is to bring the four Salvadoran aviation technicians home and to fight the gangs, and that El Salvador is covering 90% of the operation's costs with its own resources. He also asked people to pray for Haiti and said that when the mission ends, the Salvadorans will return home. According to Infobae, as of Thursday there was no official information on the whereabouts of the four technicians.
- Press Secretariat: Summarized Bukele's message to Haitians: the deployment aims to fight gangs and bring the four technicians home, and is not an invasion
- Bukele: Posted a message in Haitian Creole to the people of Haiti: he says the deployment is not an invasion, that the aim is to bring the four technicians home and fight the gangs, and that El Salvador pays 90% of the costs
El Salvador confirms more than 2,000 troops in Haiti to search for its four missing soldiers
According to a statement from El Salvador's Foreign Ministry, President Nayib Bukele spoke by phone on Wednesday, October 28 with Haiti's prime minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, about the operation to rescue four Salvadoran soldiers missing since an ambush on October 18 near Port-au-Prince. The Foreign Ministry said "El Salvador will continue the operational deployment of more than 2,000 soldiers" (our translation) in what it described as a large-scale operation backed by several countries and international organizations. According to the statement, Bukele reaffirmed the country's willingness to keep supporting security work against gangs in Haiti and thanked Haitian authorities for their cooperation. El Diario de Hoy notes that the official figure is higher than the roughly 1,300 troops previously reported by Haitian media. So far there has been no official word on the whereabouts of the four soldiers.
CID Gallup: 94% of those surveyed approve of Bukele's performance
A national CID Gallup poll, conducted October 24-27, indicates that 94% of Salvadorans surveyed approve of President Nayib Bukele's performance and 91% feel proud to have him as president. According to Diario El Mundo, the poll was based on 600 interviews with adults, with a 4% margin of error and a 95% confidence level. The survey also asked about the operation in Haiti to search for four missing air force technicians: 82% said they were worried about the risk to Salvadoran personnel, and 68% support keeping or increasing the contingent. In the September measurement, approval stood at 92%, according to El Mundo. Bukele shared the figure on X.
Haiti's anti-gang force received human remains but says it cannot yet confirm whether they are the four Salvadorans
The Gang Suppression Force (GSF), the multinational mission operating in Haiti with UN authorization, said in a statement that a humanitarian organization handed it unidentified human remains that could belong to the four Salvadoran soldiers missing since the October 18 attack in Croix-des-Bouquets. The GSF said it is not currently in a position to confirm whether the remains are those of its personnel and that it will share more information through its official channels once it has verified data. On Saturday, President Nayib Bukele had said the remains were not those of the air force technicians. The mission also clarified that a Chadian soldier's ID that circulated on social media belongs to a soldier from that contingent who lost it during the search, and that he is safe with his unit. The four Salvadorans remain officially missing.
Abinader says he spoke with Bukele about logistics and intelligence cooperation for operations in Haiti
Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader said on Saturday on his X account that he spoke with Nayib Bukele “about logistics and intelligence cooperation for the operations against the criminal gangs in Haiti” (our translation), where the search continues for the four Salvadoran air force technicians missing since October 18. According to El Diario de Hoy and ContraPunto, Abinader did not specify what resources or information his country would provide, nor did he announce the deployment of Dominican troops. He also said his government is in contact with the Gang Suppression Force and has reinforced the border with Haiti, especially in the south, with more personnel, armored vehicles and equipment.
Bukele says the remains handed over in Haiti are not those of the four Salvadoran air force technicians
The New York Times and Reuters reported on Saturday that four bodies had been found on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince that could be those of the four Salvadoran air force technicians kidnapped by gangs in Haiti, as reported by Diario Co Latino and El Diario de Hoy. Hours later, President Nayib Bukele denied it on X: “They are not our men” (our translation). According to Bukele, an NGO handed over human remains at the airport claiming they belonged to the technicians, but they are those of a child, a man considerably taller than them, and a person wearing part of another army's uniform; ID cards and military uniforms from other countries were also found. The government has given no new information on the whereabouts of the four soldiers, who are still being searched for.
Haitian media report 450 Salvadoran troops in Haiti searching for the four missing soldiers
Haitian newspapers Le Nouvelliste and Haïti Libre report that the Salvadoran contingent in Haiti has reached 450 troops, sent to search for the four Salvadorans missing since October 18 after a gang attack in Croix-des-Bouquets, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. Contrapunto and Infobae carry those reports, which cite the arrival of new flights with troops. Contrapunto notes that neither the Armed Forces nor the Salvadoran government has publicly confirmed how many troops were sent, so the figure comes from the Haitian media. Contrapunto also quotes a former Haitian military commander who warns that the terrain and the gangs' resistance make the rescue difficult.
Bukele answers criticism of the Haiti mission: “we have never listened to them and we are not going to start now”
President Nayib Bukele replied on X to messages and analyses warning that Haiti's gangs are more dangerous than El Salvador's and that the mission could fail. He wrote that, if victory comes, today's critics will change their tune, and added: “we have never listened to them and we are not going to start now” (our translation). Bukele said everyone who enlisted is a believer and that the mission has been entrusted to God, and he described Haiti's gangs as “satanic”, which is his own characterization. He closed with the line “God will grant us victory. The Creator of the Universe is with us” (our translation) and a quote from Deuteronomy 28:7. The post comes as the search continues for the four Salvadoran soldiers missing in Haiti since October 18.
A Salvadoran military contingent arrives in Haiti to search for the four missing technicians
The Gang Suppression Force (GSF), the international anti-gang mission in Haiti, confirmed that a contingent from El Salvador arrived in Port-au-Prince on October 22. According to the GSF, it will take part in search and security operations in the Cul-de-Sac plain, in coordination with the Haitian National Police. The mission did not say how many troops arrived; the US newspaper Miami Herald reported about 100 special forces soldiers, a figure that has not been officially confirmed. The four Salvadoran aviation technicians have been missing since Sunday, October 18, after a gang attack in the Santo area of Croix-des-Bouquets. The GSF asked residents of that area to stay away from places where operations are under way.
Haiti's government says freeing the Salvadoran soldiers is its priority
The Haitian prime minister's office said in a statement on Wednesday, October 21, that freeing the kidnapped Salvadoran soldiers is an "absolute priority" (our translation), according to Infobae and the Dominican newspaper Hoy. The prime minister met with the authorities in charge to review the actions under way and to strengthen, together with the international anti-gang force, the operations against the armed groups. The Haitian government said it is mobilizing the resources needed to secure their release. The Salvadorans are part of the international force, and contact with them was lost after an ambush on Sunday, October 18, near Port-au-Prince.
Bukele announces a military operation in Haiti and demands that gangs free the four Salvadorans
President Nayib Bukele on Wednesday posted a message in Haitian Creole addressed to the gang leaders who, he says, are holding four Salvadorans hostage in Haiti. He said the captives are not combatants but aviation technicians from the Salvadoran mission, which mainly carries out medical evacuations, and that they were kidnapped while returning from buying food. Bukele said a military operation to rescue them was launched that day and warned that action could intensify if they are not released. "Return our four compatriots to us alive, unharmed, and everything will go back to how it was before the kidnapping" (our translation), he said, according to the Spanish version reported by La Página and El Diario de Hoy. The four went missing after the October 18 ambush in the Santo area of Croix-des-Bouquets.
UN-backed force in Haiti keeps searching for four Salvadoran soldiers after ambush
The UN-created Gang Suppression Force (GSF) said Tuesday that it is still searching for four of its Salvadoran members, with whom it lost contact after the attack on Sunday, October 18, in the Santo area of Croix-des-Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince. According to its statement, its troops have fought armed gangs with helicopter support, and preliminary reports indicate several gang members were killed and others wounded. Four GSF members were also wounded and are receiving medical care. The force thanked the government of El Salvador for its coordination and asked residents of the area to stay in their homes.
El Salvador urges the UN Security Council to step up the search for four soldiers missing in Haiti
El Salvador's ambassador to the UN, Egriselda López, on Monday condemned before the Security Council the October 18 ambush on four Salvadoran soldiers in Haiti and asked for stronger international coordination to find them, Diario El Mundo and Diario La Huella reported. According to López, the soldiers were returning to their camp in an armored vehicle when they were attacked with firearms and explosives, the vehicle caught fire, and the helicopters sent in support were also attacked. The ambassador said contact with them has still not been established. "Our immediate priority is to ensure the prompt and safe recovery of our personnel" (our translation), she said. She also called for strengthening the mission's capabilities such as intelligence, surveillance, mobility and communications, according to La Huella.
Armed Forces confirm ambush on four Salvadoran soldiers in Haiti; efforts to make contact continue
The Armed Forces of El Salvador (FAES) said in a statement posted on the night of Sunday, October 18, that four Salvadoran soldiers serving with the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) were ambushed in Haiti while returning to their camp in an armored vehicle. According to the FAES, the attackers used firearms and explosive devices; the vehicle caught fire, but the soldiers managed to get out. Helicopters sent in support also came under fire. The institution said operations are continuing to make contact with the four soldiers and determine where they are. Early media reports spoke of five soldiers; the FAES says four. Local media cited by Diario El Mundo and Infobae place the attack in the Croix-des-Bouquets area, about 12 kilometers from Port-au-Prince.