The Salvadoran army will strengthen the security mission in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE – El Salvador officially signed the agreement on October 3 to participate in the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission aimed at combating gang violence in Haiti. The Organization of American States (OAS) owns the signed agreement, which marks the culmination of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s long-standing proposal and commitment to assist in Haiti’s security operations.

While an exact deployment date is still unknown, officials have indicated that Salvadoran troops will arrive soon to support the Haitian National Police (PNH), providing essential aerial surveillance, medical assistance and street patrols.

“Imminent deployment of Salvadoran troops to Haiti,” Gandy Thomas, Haiti’s permanent representative to the OAS, posted at X after the signing by Salvadoran diplomat Jeannette Acevedo Castillo.

Thomas further stated, “This accession marks a crucial and decisive step in the fight against armed violence in Haiti,” underscoring the value of El Salvador’s experience in the fight against criminal gangs.

Speak with The Haitian timesa source from the Kenyan-led MSS confirmed that El Salvador will oversee the air operations, although details remain scarce. According to the source, Salvadoran military officials will assess what type of helicopters are needed for operations.

In addition to aerial surveillance, Salvadoran forces will provide health care to mission personnel and work with troops from Kenya, Jamaica and Belize in joint patrols with the Haitian National Police (PNH).

Gangs continue to practice terror

Despite the deployment of the MSS in June and the establishment of a new transitional government led by Prime Minister Garry Conille, gangs continue to impose their reign of terror on the Haitian people. The situation has escalated in recent weeks, with vulnerable communities, especially in most of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, surrounding areas and the Artibonite department, witnessing worsened levels of gang violence.

On October 3, the Gran Grif gang led by the infamous Luckson Elan attacked in Savien, a municipal part of Liancourt, Artibonite, residents of Pont-Sondé near Saint-Marc, killing at least 70 people. In addition to the massacres, the gangs also left many seriously injured people and set fire to 45 houses and 34 vehicles. At least 3,000 families fled the area in fear for their lives, said Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesman for the UN Human Rights Office in Haiti.

Besides the Gran Grif gang, Kokorat San Ras is another criminal gang group that is spreading terror in the Artibonite department, instilling families in a permanent state of fear. Gangs from these two coalitions have launched several attacks on residents of several regional municipalities.

In August, Kokorat San Ras attacked the communities of Rivière Blanche and Canifice in Gros-Morne, about 30 kilometers north of Gonaïves, the department’s capital. During these attacks, at least ten people were killed, six were kidnapped and several houses and farms were set on fire.

Ultimately, the gang groups demanded $298 per household so residents could return or reclaim their homes.

On June 14 and 15, heavily armed men on ten motorcycles stormed through the neighboring rural communities of Lagon and Grande Plaine – Savanne Carrée, in Terre-Neuve and Gros-Morne, killing as many as ten people, including a pregnant woman on the was on the brink of disaster. work. During the attack, an attempted kidnapping that turned into a massacre, one person was seriously injured and the bandits burned down twenty houses.

These criminal groups make normal life impossible for residents and disrupt their daily activities and livelihoods. In response, residents felt compelled to take to the streets to protest and call on authorities to combat gang-led insecurity.

Salvadoran soldiers to reinforce the MSS

The announcement of the arrival of the Salvadoran contingent comes after the UN Security Council last week extended the MSS’s mandate for another year, amid ongoing difficulties in securing sufficient funding and personnel. So far, only 407 of the planned 2,500 mission members have been deployed, and the mission has received about $67 million of the $84 million pledged by member states. However, this is significantly less than the required annual budget of $600 million.

Due to the existing challenges of the MSS, the US had proposed transforming it into a UN mission to secure more stable funding and resources. Yet the plan was scrapped after China and Russia threatened to veto a resolution drafted by the US and Ecuador. Russia in particular argued that the MSS should be given more time to establish itself before any transformation into a UN operation is considered, according to Reuters.

El Salvador’s expertise in fighting crime comes after years of significant success in reducing gang violence at home under President Bukele’s government. Once considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world, El Salvador has reached a murder rate of 2.4 per 100,000 inhabitants, making it the safest country in Latin America, according to Radio France Internationale (RFI). Bukele’s approach has received broad domestic support, positioning him for a second term.

Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa has pointed to the country’s peacekeeping work in the Central African Republic and Mali as evidence of its ability to help with the crisis in Haiti. Preparations for this cooperation began last year with the signing of an agreement – ​​by Salvadoran Foreign Minister Alexandra Hill Tinoco and her Haitian counterpart Jean Victor Généus – to establish a Salvadoran cooperation office in Haiti.

While specific details about the size of the Salvadoran contingent are not being made public, their arrival is expected to strengthen the under-resourced MSS as it continues to battle powerful gangs in Haiti.

Meanwhile, President Bukele has expressed confidence that his country can help. “A few years ago we saw similar images in El Salvador. Gangs bathed with the skulls of their victims,” his press secretary wrote on X.

“All the ‘experts’ said they couldn’t be defeated because they were ‘an intrinsic part of our society.’ They were wrong. We destroyed them.”

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