Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele defended his country’s military forces deployed in Haiti on Saturday, responding to allegations that they conducted airstrikes against civilians. Bukele firmly rejected claims made by the United Nations Association-Haiti (UNA-Haiti), stating that Salvadoran forces do not possess bombs for such operations.
On the social media platform X, Bukele questioned how the alleged attacks could have occurred prior to the arrival of Salvadoran attack helicopters, which he noted only arrived in Haiti on October 29, one day before the allegations were reported by Drop Site News. He stated that as of Saturday, the helicopters had not yet flown any missions.
The allegations were detailed in an open letter from UNA-Haiti addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on October 30. The letter accused Salvadoran forces of carrying out aerial bombardments and helicopter gunship attacks in densely populated areas near Port-au-Prince, including Croix-des-Bouquets, Canaan, and La Plaine du Cul-de-Sac. UNA-Haiti called for an investigation into these claims, asserting that foreign forces were responsible for civilian casualties, including fatalities among children, rather than local gangs.
Bukele dismissed these accusations and criticized non-governmental organizations for disseminating what he described as false information. He asserted that these organizations manipulate international bodies and function as lobbying groups for the gangs operating in the region while masquerading as humanitarian entities.
The deployment of Salvadoran troops to Haiti followed an ambush on October 18, during which four Salvadoran aviation technicians working with a UN-backed mission went missing. Bukele characterized the military presence as a mission to recover the personnel involved.
The allegations regarding airstrikes remain unverified by independent sources.
