El Salvador launches operation to rescue hostages from Haitian gangs — President Bukele threatens to escalate
President Bukele said the operation would not escalate if the hostages were returned safely.
Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, announced a military operation to rescue four hostages in Haiti and threatened the gangs involved.
In a statement on social media, Bukele issued a statement to the gang leaders and gang members that said if the hostages were not safely returned, he would mount a larger operation.
'We have already finished with the gangs in El Salvador, and we can finish with you too.'
Bukele said in the post translated by X from Haitian Creole that the four hostages were "cowardly" taken after they went to a market.
"Our kidnapped men are not combatants," he wrote. "They are aviation technicians who are part of our mission in Haiti, within the framework of an international mission. Our mission consists only of pilots and technical personnel, whose primary job is to carry out medical evacuations and save lives, not to wage war."
He went on to say that if the hostages were not returned alive, the Haitian gangs would face a far greater military operation.
"We have a single objective: to bring our four compatriots back home alive, without any harm," the president wrote.
"However, I want you, the gang leaders, to understand one thing very clearly: Today's attack is nothing compared to what is coming if we do not get all four hostages back alive. And do not take our word for empty threats," he added.
"We have already finished with the gangs in El Salvador, and we can finish with you too," Bukele added.
The president has been praised for taking a hard line against organized crime in El Salvador by sending criminals to an infamous prison for terrorists. Crime has dropped in the country, but humanitarian groups have accused Bukele of violating human rights and implementing an authoritarian state.
He added a video in the post that appeared to show military trucks in the operation in Haiti.
The operation was in retaliation for gang attacks on a gang suppression force with over 2,000 troops from El Salvador, Chad, Jamaica, and Guatemala.
"To the gang bosses terrorizing Haiti: Your days of operating with impunity are numbered," said Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on Monday. "You can burn vehicles, erect barricades, terrorize the local police, terrorize civilians, but the Gang Suppression Force is coming for you. The international community will not tolerate it."
"We still have time to avoid this,' Bukele added in his statement Wednesday.
"Return our four compatriots to us alive, without any harm, and everything will go back to how it was before the kidnapping. The decision is in your hands," he concluded.
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