Can El Salvador’s Bukele Troops Do What The Haiti Police Can’t? 

News Americas, PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Thurs. Nov. 5, 2026: More than 2,000 troops from El Salvador are now backing Haitian police and soldiers in their fight against the armed gangs that terrorize the country. That raises the question many Haitians at home and abroad are asking: can Nayib Bukele’s soldiers do what Haiti’s outgunned police have not?

The deployment comes as Haiti’s government sets dates for its first general elections in more than a decade, and as one of the country’s most powerful gang leaders appeals to the United Nations for talks, warning the Salvadoran presence could trigger a cycle of reprisals.

Bukele ordered the deployment after four Salvadoran aviation technicians were attacked on Oct. 18 in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac, near Port-au-Prince. They remain missing. At home, Bukele’s hardline crackdown on gangs has been credited with sharply reducing homicides, while human rights groups have criticized it over mass detentions. How that approach translates to Haiti, where gangs control large parts of the capital and surrounding areas, remains to be seen. President Bukele has posted videos of heavily armed soldiers from his country patrolling streets in Haiti and being greeted by locals. “Gather your gangs so we can go fight with them,” Bukele wrote in a post on X on Wednesday.

Wilson Joseph, best known as Lanmò Sanjou and leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, wrote to the U.N. Secretary General on Monday asking the organization to send a delegation to Haiti for dialogue and mediation. A source who was not authorized to discuss the matter confirmed the U.N. received the letter.

The letter describes 400 Mawozo as a “rebel group” and was sent from the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac, the area where the Salvadoran technicians were attacked. “Given Mr. Nayib Bukele’s vengeful remarks, expectations, and threats, I fear this situation will lead to an escalation of violence and a logic of reprisals, of which the Haitian people would be the first victims,” Joseph wrote.

The gang, whose name roughly translates to “400 Simpletons,” operates largely in Croix-des-Bouquets near Port-au-Prince. It is known for thousands of kidnappings, including the October 2021 abduction of 17 missionaries, 16 from the United States and one from Canada. Five children were among them. All were eventually released.

Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council said that the first round of general elections will be held on July 18, 2027, with a second round on Oct. 4, 2027. Haiti has not held elections in more than a decade and is run by an unelected prime minister. The presidency has been vacant since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021.

The council expects to publish the final list of candidates, including those running for president and the Senate, by mid-January. Voter registration ends May 20. Presidential hopefuls include former presidents Michel Martelly, Claude Joseph and Jocelerme Privert; former Chamber of Deputies president Gary Bodeau; and Public Prosecutor Jean Ernest Muscadin. Martelly and Bodeau have been sanctioned by the United States over corruption allegations, while Muscadin has been accused of summary executions of suspected criminals.

Haiti’s Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé said Haiti, which is battling powerful gangs, is responsible for the direction of foreign forces in his country.

“The international force is not here to replace the state,” he said. “They’re here to support us.” Fils-Aimé was flanked from behind by an army colonel from El Salvador, a leader of the U.N.-backed gang suppression force, and officials from Haiti’s army and police. It appeared to be a show of unity as concerns grow about Salvadoran troops acting unilaterally.

Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Moïse. They now control 70% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and have expanded their activities, including looting, kidnapping, sexual assaults and rape, into the countryside. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination.