El Salvador’s Bukele Vows to Crush Haitian Gangs After Troop Deployment

Following El Salvador’s successful crackdown on criminal gangs, President Nayib Bukele has deployed 2,000 troops to Haiti after four Salvadoran military aviation technicians vanished following an October 18 ambush near Port-au-Prince.

“We have already finished with the gangs in El Salvador, and we can finish with you too,” Bukele wrote on X, addressing Haiti’s criminal organizations. He emphasized that the mission is not an invasion or long-term occupation, but an effort to recover the four missing Salvadorans alive.

The disappearance has become a national priority for Bukele, who has warned Haitian gang leaders that El Salvador is prepared to use overwhelming force if the men are not returned alive.

Soldiers walk across the airport tarmac to board an aircraft after El Salvador deployed thousands of troops to Haiti, days after four members of a U.N.-backed force went missing in a gang ambush. The footage was released October 29, 2026, from Comalapa, El Salvador. (Handout via REUTERS)

The technicians served with a medical unit as part of the U.N.-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF) when their armored vehicle was attacked in Croix-des-Bouquets. Haiti’s National Police announced Tuesday—more than two weeks after the attack—that they had located the charred remains of the vehicle in the Santo neighborhood of Croix-des-Bouquets, though no trace of the missing men was found.

El Salvador maintains the men were abducted; the Haitian government describes them as missing; and at least one gang leader claims they are dead.

In a Tuesday post on X written in Haitian Creole and addressed to the Haitian people, Bukele recalled the 1806 assassination of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who proclaimed Haiti’s independence from France in 1804 and is widely regarded as the nation’s founder. “Dessalines liberated Haiti, but some people who were by his side betrayed him and killed him,” Bukele said. “Those traitors still exist in Haiti.”

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele spoke at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., warning that violent gang members in his country have a documented history of Satan worship. (Alex Pena/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Bukele also shared video of a helicopter engagement in Croix-des-Bouquets. “Gangs were attacking GSF soldiers from Chad. We arrived quickly and repelled the attackers with our attack helicopters,” he said.

Bukele has the support of President Donald Trump, who told reporters at Mar-a-Lago on Halloween that he had spoken with the Salvadoran leader. “He said that he has a big problem with Haiti,” Trump said. “They killed some of his people. I said, ‘You’re running your country. You have to do what you have to do.’”

Unlike earlier foreign interventions, Bukele’s deployment has the backing of Haiti’s transitional government. “The international force is not here to replace the state,” said Haitian Prime Minister Didier Fils-Aimé in his first public remarks on the deployment. “They’re here to support us.”

Fils-Aimé added that Bukele “understands our fight… He came to stand on the side of the Haitian people.”

An armored personnel carrier from Haiti’s U.N.-backed Gang Suppression Force patrols Port-au-Prince after El Salvador announced a rescue mission for four missing air force members, October 23, 2026. (Patrice Noel/Reuters)

The operation has drawn criticism from human rights advocates and gang leaders, who warn that military escalation could deepen civilian suffering. The United Nations reports at least 5,700 people killed or injured in Haitian gang violence since January 1, as security forces struggle to contain the crisis. The U.N. also stated that El Salvador’s deployment is separate from the GSF and warned that San Salvador must comply with applicable international law.

Wilson Joseph, known as “Lanmò Sanjou” and leader of the powerful 400 Mawozo gang, accused rival gang Chen Mechan of carrying out the ambush and claimed the Salvadorans are dead, according to the Associated Press.

Joseph also sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres requesting U.N. mediation and warning that Bukele’s “vengeful remarks, expectations, and threats… will lead to an escalation of violence and a logic of reprisals, of which the Haitian people would be the first victims.”

An armed member of the G9 and Family gang patrols a roadblock in the Delmas 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 11. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Joseph was indicted by the United States in 2022 on hostage-taking charges stemming from the 2021 kidnapping of 17 missionaries, including 16 Americans. He remains the subject of a reward of up to $1 million for his arrest.

Bukele dismissed such appeals, accusing gang leaders of using civilians and international human rights concerns as a shield to preserve their power and avoid accountability. He has argued that negotiations have only prolonged a crisis that has devastated Haiti for years.

After years as one of the world’s most violent countries—dominated by gangs including MS-13—El Salvador launched an unprecedented crackdown in 2022 under a state of emergency. Authorities carried out tens of thousands of arrests, ultimately detaining more than 90,000 suspected gang members.

Supporters credit the strategy with driving homicide rates to historic lows and restoring public safety. Critics accuse Bukele’s government of human rights abuses, arbitrary detentions, and the erosion of due-process protections.

Salvadoran soldiers return to base following a patrol after El Salvador deployed thousands of troops to Haiti in response to the ambush that left four U.N.-backed force members missing, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 30, 2026. (Patrice Noel/Reuters)

The question now is whether that model can be exported to Haiti, where gangs control large parts of Port-au-Prince and influence key transportation routes and neighborhoods. Despite years of international intervention, security conditions have continued to deteriorate. The GSF has struggled with manpower shortages and operational limits, operating below its Security Council–approved strength, leaving Haiti’s government unable to reassert full control over much of the capital.

“We can help you defeat them, but we are not your enemies,” Bukele wrote on Tuesday. “We must stand up, take back control of our communities, and place under our control those who are making us endure all this pain, all this suffering. We are right there beside you… Haiti will be free.”

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