El Salvador Deploys Troops in Haiti to Rescue Missing Technicians
El Salvador’s president says deployment is not an invasion, but a mission to bring back kidnapped technicians.
2 min read
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has stated that the deployment of Salvadoran soldiers in Haiti is not an invasion, but rather a mission to bring back four missing aviation technicians who were reportedly kidnapped during a gang ambush.
Operation to Rescue Missing Technicians
The four Salvadoran aviation technicians, who were part of a United Nations-backed mission in Haiti, went missing on October 18 after being ambushed by a gang. On October 21, Bukele announced a military operation to rescue them, warning Haitian gang leaders of the consequences if the hostages are not returned alive.
“We have a single objective: to bring our four compatriots back home alive, without any harm,” Bukele said in a post on X in Haitian Creole. “However, I want you, the gang leaders, to understand one thing very clearly: today’s attack is nothing compared to what is coming if we do not get all four hostages back alive.”
Logistical and Financial Support
According to El Salvador’s Foreign Ministry, more than two thousand soldiers have been deployed for the operation. Bukele also noted that the mission is receiving logistical support from other countries, though El Salvador is covering 90% of the costs.
“It costs us dearly, but we’ve learned from our own suffering: justice and peace have no price,” Bukele said. “We didn’t come to Haiti to make money, because no one is paying us to do it. We came to Haiti to fight against the wicked.”
Clarifying the Mission
Bukele emphasized that the deployment is not an invasion of Haiti and reiterated that the goal is solely to rescue the four technicians. “This is not an operation against the Haitian people, nor an invasion of the country of Haiti,” he said. “The only thing we want is for our four aviation technicians to return home. And we’re giving the gangs a lesson — these gangs that make the Haitian people suffer, that kill people the population loves, that prevent them from living a normal, free life, without fear.”
At the conclusion of the mission, Bukele stated that their forces would return home, adding, “Perhaps the next generation of Haitians will remember us as friends who came to help on day.”
Source: OANN
