Why does El Salvador's Bukele have troops in Haiti?
El Salvador has deployed thousands of troops to Haiti to combat gang violence, claiming a major operation against criminal groups.
Haiti has been engulfed in crisis since 2018, with protests, a presidential assassination and widespread gang violence bringing the country to its knees. Earlier this week, Haiti's Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime hailed a major win in the battle against the violence, thanks to "the commitment of the Salvadorean forces in the fight against gangs." Bukele had claimed a joint task force had "destroyed" what he called "the house of Lanmo San Jou and the 400 Mawozo gang's headquarters," tweeting an unverified video of helicopters firing on a property.
Troop deployment
A number of Salvadoran troops have been stationed in Haiti, nearly 2,000 kilometers from their homeland, since the beginning of 2025, mostly in an attempt to curb gang influence. Last month, Bukele dispatched more than 2,000 additional troops and special forces to Haiti, ostensibly to rescue four Salvadorans who were ambushed on October 18 and have not yet been found.
Writing on social media platform X, Fils-Aime thanked the Salvadorean military for helping "the fight against gangs." The two nations are, he added, working alongside the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF), in an attempt to "regain control of the territory and restore state authority."
Legitimacy concerns
The GSF has been operating in Haiti since 2016, but there are doubts about the legitimacy of El Salvador's presence. Experts question the coordination between various security forces.
Haiti's crisis
A UN report about Haiti released on Thursday described "bloody turf wars, sexual violence and other horrors, noting that serious violations and abuses continue to be committed across the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area and in the Artibonite and South-East departments." The report found that between July and September 2026, at least 1,167 people were killed and 459 injured, with more than half of that violence stemming from ground or aerial operations carried out by security forces against gangs, sometimes with the support of a private military company using drones.
Exporting iron fist
For many observers, this chaos is a major part of the appeal for Bukele, who appears to wish to export his mano dura (iron fist) policy on to foreign soil. The policy saw gang members jailed on a huge scale and a significant drop in the murder rate in El Salvador. However, Haiti's gang problem is more entrenched, and using the same tactics may not have the same result.
US support
"He said that he has a big problem with Haiti. I said: 'Look, you're running your country. You have to do what you have to do,'" Trump said in November.
Despite El Salvador being on Donald Trump's list of "shithole countries" that the US president disparaged in 2018, relations between the US and El Salvador have improved markedly during Trump's second term. The number of migrants deported to El Salvador from the US rose by 98% at the start of 2026. Bukele has positioned himself as an ally to Trump, who has offered him a level of endorsement and autonomy to do what he deems necessary to protect El Salvador's security and that of its troops.
Related
