El Salvador pledges troops to Haiti as elections move to 2027

On October 28, 2026, Reuters reported that El Salvador intended to deploy over 2,000 troops to Haiti to search for four missing aircraft technicians and support anti-gang efforts, while Haiti’s electoral council moved the delayed presidential and legislative vote to July 2027.⁴

Rescue operation

Reporting on October 29 indicated that troops were already arriving. The BBC said more than 2,000 Salvadoran soldiers had been deployed, while The Straits Times reported that around 2,000 were in Haiti by Wednesday night. The latter said the deployment would initially be limited to 2,500, citing two sources.¹²

The four technicians disappeared after an October 18 ambush, according to Al Jazeera. The BBC placed the attack in Croix-des-Bouquets and reported that they had been returning to their base in an armoured vehicle. It said the men were serving with a UN-backed anti-gang organisation and that no gang had claimed responsibility.¹³

The BBC also reported that Haitian authorities handed over four bodies they said belonged to the missing servicemen. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele rejected that identification, saying “they did not match”. The broadcaster said one of the bodies belonged to a child, while a second had on another country’s military uniform.¹

Command arrangements unresolved

Bukele and Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime discussed the deployment by telephone, The Straits Times reported. According to Fils-Aime’s office, the leaders agreed to coordinate rescue and security efforts more closely under the UN-supported Gang Suppression Force.²

That stated framework did not resolve whether the additional Salvadoran soldiers would join the international force or operate separately. Their command structure and rules of engagement had not been clarified, according to The Straits Times. Bukele said the deployment was nearly complete and El Salvador was meeting 90% of its costs, the newspaper reported.²³⁴

Foreign troops have operated in Haiti under UN-backed security missions since 2024. The BBC reported that the Security Council expanded the Gang Suppression Force’s powers in October. It also reported more than 5,700 deaths from gang-related violence this year and said armed groups controlled much of Port-au-Prince.¹²³

A new election calendar

The electoral council set the initial vote for president and lawmakers for July 18, 2027, and placed the runoff and local polls on October 4. Al Jazeera reported that the first round had previously been planned for December 13. No election has taken place in Haiti since 2016; the country’s most recent president was killed in 2021.²³⁴

Registration remains limited. Al Jazeera reported that, as of Wednesday, the voter roll included under 900,000 of the 6.5 million Haitians who held the necessary identity cards. The outlet reported that gang control of roads obstructed access to registration centres and that violence had displaced many people. Electoral authorities introduced online voter registration and extended candidate-registration deadlines.³