Why El Salvador Built a Military Presence in Haiti—and What the Central American Country Wants

Troops deployed amid crisis

Haiti has faced a prolonged crisis since 2018, marked by protests, the assassination of a president and widespread gang violence. Salvadoran troops have been stationed there since early 2025, nearly 2,000 kilometers from home, in an effort to curb gang influence.

Last month, Bukele sent more than 2,000 troops and special forces to Haiti. The stated reason was to rescue four Salvadorans ambushed on October 18 who have not been found.

Haiti praises joint effort

Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime thanked Salvadoran forces for their role in fighting gangs. He said the two countries are working with the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force to regain territory and restore state authority.

Questions over tactics and oversight

Experts have raised concerns about how Salvadoran forces coordinate with other security groups. Jake Johnston of the Center for Economic and Policy Research said the boundaries between the different forces are a major concern, and that El Salvador is presenting the deployment as its own action.

A UN report released on Thursday documented ongoing abuses and violence in Port-au-Prince and the Artibonite and South-East departments. It said at least 1,167 people were killed and 459 injured between July and September 2026; more than half of the violence came from security-force operations against gangs, sometimes supported by a private military company using drones.

Can Bukele’s model work?

Bukele’s security policy in El Salvador has involved mass imprisonment of gang members and a major decline in the murder rate. But Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, a Haiti expert at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, said Haiti lacks the conditions to reproduce that approach.

He pointed to emptied prisons in 2024, a largely paralyzed justice system and criminal groups with territorial control, weapons and political connections. He said Haiti’s groups resemble militias more than gangs.

US ties add another dimension

Relations between the United States and El Salvador have improved during Donald Trump’s second term, despite Trump’s disparaging remarks about El Salvador in 2018. Deportations of migrants from the US to El Salvador rose by 98% at the start of 2026.

Trump has publicly backed Bukele’s freedom to act on security matters. In November, Trump said Bukele had a serious problem with Haiti and told him he had to run his country as he saw fit.