Bukele Sends 2,000 Troops to Haiti to Find Four Missing Soldiers, Warns Gang Leaders His Forces Will 'Finish' Them

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has issued a blunt warning to Haiti's criminal gangs, saying his forces finished gangs in El Salvador and can finish them in Haiti too. He has deployed 2,000 troops to the Caribbean nation after four Salvadoran military aviation technicians disappeared following an ambush near Port-au-Prince.

In a message on X directed at Haiti's criminal groups, Bukele wrote, 'We have already finished with the gangs in El Salvador, and we can finish with you too.' He stressed that the operation's objective was not to invade Haiti or conduct a long-term occupation, but to recover the four missing Salvadorans alive.

The disappearance dates to October 18. The four aviation technicians were assigned to a medical unit as part of the United Nations-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in Haiti. Their armored vehicle was attacked in Croix-des-Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince, and they have not been seen since.

Haiti's National Police announced on Tuesday, more than two weeks after the attack, that it had found the charred remains of the vehicle in the Santo neighborhood of Croix-des-Bouquets. Police said, however, they found no sign of the missing men.

The accounts of the four men's fate differ. El Salvador says the men were abducted, the Haitian government says the soldiers are missing, and one gang leader says they are dead.

In a separate post on X on Tuesday, directed at the 'Haitian people' and written in Haitian Creole, Bukele recalled Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who proclaimed Haiti's independence from France in 1804 and whom many regard as the founder of Haiti; he was assassinated in 1806. Bukele wrote, 'Dessalines liberated Haiti, but some people who were by his side betrayed him and killed him. Those traitors still exist in Haiti.'

Bukele also reposted video of a helicopter engagement in Croix-des-Bouquets. 'Gangs were attacking GSF soldiers from Chad,' he wrote. 'We arrived quickly and repelled the attackers with our attack helicopters.'

Bukele has the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump, who, when asked by reporters at Mar-a-Lago on Halloween, confirmed speaking with the Salvadoran president. 'He said that he has a big problem with Haiti,' Trump said. 'They killed some of his people. I said, you're running your country. You have to do what you have to do.'

Unlike previous foreign interventions, Bukele's deployment has the backing of Haiti's transitional government. In his first remarks about the deployment on Tuesday, Haitian Prime Minister Didier Fils-Aimé said, 'The international force is not here to replace the state. They're here to support us.' He added that Bukele 'understands our fight' and 'came to stand on the side of the Haitian people.'

Bukele has warned Haitian gang leaders that El Salvador is prepared to use overwhelming force if the men are not returned alive, and the disappearance has become a national priority for his government.