El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele built a mega-prison and locked up gang members, driving the crime rate to single digits and spurring an economic boom. He has criticized Mexico’s government for failing to control the cartels, and now he is determined to clean up Haiti. Photo: Nayib Bukele’s Twitter profile picture, September 2024.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced on Oct. 21 that he had launched a military operation to rescue four Salvadoran aviation technicians kidnapped by gangs in Haiti. Addressing Haitian gang leaders directly, Bukele warned, “We have already dealt with the gangs in El Salvador, and we can deal with you too,” according to the Haitian Times. The statement carries weight because of what Bukele accomplished at home.

In 2015, El Salvador’s homicide rate stood at 103 per 100,000 inhabitants, among the highest in the world outside a war zone. Bukele took office in June 2019, and in March 2022 his government declared a state of exception against the MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs. According to figures presented by El Salvador’s Security Cabinet, annual homicides fell from 3,962 in 2017 to 2,398 in 2019, 495 in 2022, 114 in 2024, and 82 in 2025.

Justice and Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro reported a 2025 rate of 1.3 per 100,000, down from 1.9 the previous year, and stated that all 82 cases had been resolved with arrests. Of those killings, Villatoro said 43 stemmed from social disputes, 31 from family disputes, and eight from general crime, with none attributed to gangs.

Haiti presents a larger challenge. Gangs control an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince, and according to the United Nations, gang violence has displaced nearly 1.5 million people. From January through mid-September 2026, more than 5,700 people were killed or injured and more than 230 were kidnapped.

In May 2025, the U.S. State Department designated the Viv Ansanm gang coalition and the Gran Grif gang as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Viv Ansanm, formed in September 2023 as an alliance of the G-9 and G-Pèp factions, has attacked prisons, government buildings, and the main airport, and its campaign forced the resignation of former Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

On Sept. 30, 2025, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2793, converting the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission into a Gang Suppression Force (GSF) authorized at up to 5,550 personnel. The vote was 12-0, with China, Russia, and Pakistan abstaining. The GSF now has more than 2,000 troops on the ground from countries including El Salvador, Chad, Jamaica, and Guatemala, and its mandate has been extended through March 2027.

El Salvador had initially joined the predecessor mission in early 2025 with a narrow role. Bukele said the mission “consists only of pilots and technical personnel” whose main job is medical evacuation. In early October 2026, however, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly passed a law extending the deployment for one year and authorizing the deployment of civilian and military personnel according to the mission’s needs, expanding the contingent’s role beyond medical evacuations.

On Oct. 18, gangs opened fire on an armored vehicle carrying the four Salvadorans in the Santo area of Croix-des-Bouquets, northeast of downtown Port-au-Prince. According to Bukele, the men were returning from buying food at a local supermarket. It was the first major attack on the GSF since it began operating.

The men escaped the burning vehicle, but contact was lost. Bukele said they were abducted. The area is controlled by gangs including Chèn Méchan, Kraze Barye led by Vitelhomme Innocent, and 400 Mawozo led by Lanmo Sanjou. Innocent and Sanjou are sanctioned by the UN and the United States. No group has claimed responsibility.

Bukele posted his warning on X in Spanish and Haitian Creole, sharing a video of armored vehicles with shattered windows moving through smoke. He demanded the hostages be returned alive and unharmed, stating that the current operation was nothing compared to what would follow if they were not.

Haiti’s government called their release an “absolute priority” and convened a meeting at the prime minister’s office to strengthen operations alongside the GSF. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz condemned the kidnapping and reaffirmed full U.S. support for the rescue effort. As of Oct. 22, the fate of the four men remained unknown.

Bukele proved that eliminating crime in El Salvador was just a matter of will. He has criticized Mexico’s government for failing to control the cartels, saying that no matter how strong a cartel or gang is, it has a fraction of the firepower of the national army. Win or lose in Haiti, it remains to be seen whether Mexico will take a cue.

Meanwhile, Costa Rica, a country that does not even have an army, is following Bukele’s example. On October 14, President Laura Fernández inaugurated the CACCO, a maximum-security prison built to hold about 5,100 inmates, using plans donated by El Salvador. Fernández thanked Bukele for his cooperation. It seems that Latin America is turning. It remains to be seen whether Haiti, a country that has always been underdeveloped and violent, is salvageable.