El Salvador Deploys 2,000 Special Forces to Haiti
Michiyo Tanabe, Sawako Uchida, and Chika Mori
Modern Tokyo Times
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has sent more than 2,000 soldiers to Haiti following the kidnapping of four Salvadoran aviation technicians serving with the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF). Bukele himself shared a social-media post highlighting a Colombian Air Force aircraft involved in transporting Salvadoran personnel to Haiti. The aircraft, identified as FAC1005, was reported to have carried personnel and equipment from San Salvador to Port-au-Prince. This regional logistical dimension underlines the growing international implications of Haiti’s deepening security crisis.
Bukele remains extremely popular in El Salvador following his crackdown on narcotic gangs and the extensive criminality that had previously engulfed the nation. However, any military operation carries considerable risks, especially given the fragmented and deeply entrenched nature of Haiti’s criminal gang networks. Deploying forces into such an unpredictable environment is a serious gamble.
Prior to the deployment, Bukele had announced that a military operation would be launched to rescue the men if they were not returned alive and unharmed. With no satisfactory resolution forthcoming, the Salvadoran leader subsequently kept his promise and deployed additional forces. The Salvadoran government later confirmed that more than 2,000 soldiers would be operationally deployed as part of a large-scale operation supported by various countries and international organisations.
The BBC reports, “The multinational force has struggled to penetrate areas where gangs hold sway. More than 5,700 people were killed in gang-related violence in Haiti this year, the UN says, and armed gangs control much of the capital.”
Gang violence and the absence of credible government institutions in Haiti are nothing new. However, the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021 accelerated the country’s political deterioration and further weakened an already fragile state. Since then, criminal organisations have expanded their territorial influence, while successive political failures have undermined the prospects of restoring stability.
The four kidnapped technicians were members of the GSF. Their disappearance followed an ambush on October 18, 2026, in the Santo area of Croix-des-Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince. The incident highlights the continuing difficulties confronting the GSF, which has struggled to suppress heavily armed criminal networks operating in the capital and surrounding areas.
The United Nations Security Council authorised an expansion of the GSF’s powers last year. Yet, despite this international backing, criminality continues to dominate substantial parts of Port-au-Prince. The expansion of insecurity since 2021 demonstrates how armed gangs have continued to exploit institutional weakness and extend their influence into additional areas.
Haiti has become one of the world’s most devastating humanitarian emergencies. Year after year, deaths, displacement, and extreme violence have eroded ordinary life, while political paralysis and institutional breakdown have allowed armed gangs to expand their power. The authority of the Haitian state has steadily receded in the face of criminal organisations that intimidate communities, attack security personnel, and exploit the absence of effective governance. United Nations-designated human rights expert William O’Neill has described conditions as “hell on earth” — a devastating phrase that remains painfully relevant to the reality endured by millions of Haitians.
In a recent article, Lee Jay Walker, Modern Tokyo Times analyst, said: “The UN reports a harrowing reality marked by extrajudicial killings, human trafficking, murder, child exploitation, gang rape, and other severe human rights abuses. Haiti has also experienced grave abuses involving international personnel in previous UN missions. These scandals, together with the cholera disaster, have left a deep legacy of mistrust among ordinary Haitians.”
Bukele notified Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé before the deployment. Hence, El Salvador went through the appropriate channels and coordinated its intervention with the Haitian leadership within the framework of the international security mission.
Reuters reports, “Fils-Aime’s office confirmed the call in a separate statement, saying the two leaders reaffirmed their engagement to reinforce bilateral coordination and operational cooperation in the framework of the (UN-backed) Gang Suppression Force, notably to support rescue operations and respond to security challenges.”
Haiti today is more than a country in crisis: it is a society under relentless siege. Armed gangs have supplanted public institutions across extensive areas, while civilians face murder, kidnapping, extortion, and sexual violence. Hunger and displacement compound the suffering, and the state’s authority continues to erode. Recent estimates indicate that nearly 1.5 million Haitians have been internally displaced, while gangs retain control over large portions of Port-au-Prince. The violence has also spread beyond the capital, threatening communities that had previously offered refuge to those fleeing insecurity.
Nevertheless, President Bukele must remain acutely conscious of the dangers of mission creep. The initial deployment has a clear and understandable objective: securing the safe return of the kidnapped Salvadoran technicians. However, military operations in environments dominated by fragmented criminal networks can rapidly develop into much broader security commitments. An initial rescue operation must not inadvertently become an open-ended engagement in Haiti’s complex internal conflict. Accordingly, following the initial robust deployment, it would be in El Salvador’s interests to operate more extensively within the established GSF framework, with clearly defined objectives, responsibilities, command arrangements, and limits.
It is equally important that the international community provides sustained support to forces operating on the ground while strengthening Haiti’s extremely weak state institutions. Military deployments alone cannot resolve the underlying political, economic, and institutional failures that have allowed criminal organisations to flourish. Without credible governance, functioning security institutions, and meaningful international assistance, criminal gangs will continue to exploit the vacuum, further undermining the prospects of stability.
The situation remains extremely tense in Haiti. The country needs more than temporary military interventions: it requires a durable political and security framework capable of restoring state authority, protecting civilians, and preventing criminal networks from continuing to dictate the future of an entire nation.
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