Salvador forces join Haiti operation as vote slips
Over 2,000 troops deploy for a search and rescue mission while Haitian elections move to 2027.
By Mateo Thompson ·
San Salvador will send more than 2,000 soldiers to the Caribbean island to locate four missing technicians and engage armed gangs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the deployment on Wednesday. This announcement came the same day Haitian electoral authorities pushed the first round of presidential and parliamentary voting from December 13 to July 18, 2027.
The four Salvadoran aviation technicians vanished on October 18 in Croix-des-Bouquets, east of Port-au-Prince. Armed men ambushed their vehicle while they served with an international security mission supporting local police. President Nayib Bukele has already dispatched troops to aid the search. In an October 21 social media post written in Haitian Creole, Bukele threatened to destroy local gangs if they did not release the missing personnel.
Bukele spoke by telephone with Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime on Wednesday. The prime minister’s office stated the two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation on rescue efforts and security operations. It is not yet clear if the new Salvadoran contingent will join the United Nations-backed Gang Suppression Force or operate as a separate unit. Foreign troops have been present in Haiti under UN-backed security arrangements since 2024 to help create safer conditions for elections.
The election delay represents another obstacle to restoring an elected government. The nine-member Provisional Electoral Council also set a date for the second round of voting and local polls for October 4, 2027. The council extended deadlines for candidate registration and introduced online voter registration. Fewer than 900,000 people had registered by Wednesday, according to the Miami Herald. That number stands against 6.5 million Haitians holding the identification cards required to enroll.
Gang-controlled roads complicate access to registration centers. Violence has displaced many residents, making participation difficult. Haiti has not held elections since 2016. The country’s last president, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated in 2021. Successive transitional authorities have cited insecurity to justify delaying a return to voting.
An international food security assessment released on Wednesday found that 5.94 million Haitians face acute hunger. Of that total, 1.8 million are in emergency conditions. The report projects the number facing acute hunger will rise to 6.35 million by mid-2027. Violence continues to disrupt farming and food deliveries across the island.
