El Salvador to send over 2,000 soldiers to Haiti for rescue while elections postponed

The Caribbean's most populous nation has not held elections since 2016 and its last president was assassinated in 2021. Successive transitional leaders have postponed a vote citing insecurity as armed criminal organizations expand their territories.

Since 2024, foreign troops have deployed under UN-backed security missions intended to help Haitian police secure neighborhoods and pave the way to a secure and credible vote.

In July, Haiti's electoral council scheduled the long-awaited election for December 13, but earlier this month it announced it was reviewing its schedule, without providing a specific timeframe.

The new calendar published on Wednesday by the council has scheduled a first round presidential and legislative vote for July 18, 2027, followed by a second round with local elections on October 4.

This comes just over a week after four Salvadoran aircraft technicians were reported missing after an ambush on their vehicle in a gang-controlled area on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele announced an operation to rescue them and has since deployed hundreds of soldiers to the Caribbean country, but has not clarified their command structure, length of stay, nor what they will be doing.

El Salvador's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday Bukele had held a phone call with Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime and intended to deploy more than 2,000 troops.

Fils-Aime's office confirmed the call in a separate statement, saying the two leaders "reaffirmed their engagement to reinforce bilateral coordination and operational cooperation in the framework of the (UN-backed) Gang Suppression Force, notably to support rescue operations and respond to security challenges."

The office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether this meant the new Salvadoran forces would join the UN-backed mission or operate separately.

(Reporting by Harold Isaac in Port-au-Prince, Gerardo Arbaiza in San Salvador and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Christian Schmollinger)