The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, has emphasized that the deployment of Salvadoran soldiers in Haiti does not respond to a "mission of occupation" nor obey "neocolonialist intentions," but is limited to an operation focused on locating and rescuing the four Salvadoran aerotechnicians kidnapped during a medical evacuation mission.
In the press conference following his meeting with the president of Peru, Keiko Fujimori, held in the Hall of Honor of the Presidential House in San Salvador, Bukele has launched a direct message to the Haitian armed gangs, warning that his troops are ready to "finish off" the country's gangs if they do not release the four detained personnel alive.
"Our mission is to rescue our four aerotechnicians. If they do not hand them over to us willingly, we are going to rescue them by force. And along the way, we are going to be finishing them off (the gangs)", the head of state has declared, emphasizing that, if the hostages are released immediately, the Salvadoran contingent will leave Haitian territory that same day.
The head of state has described the situation generated by the armed gangs in Haiti as a "hell," comparing it with the scenario that El Salvador went through before the security reforms promoted by his Administration, and has pointed out that the gangs of both countries share the same logic of terror against the civilian population.
These statements come after Bukele disseminated a message on social media addressed to the Haitian people, in which he stressed that the presence of Salvadoran soldiers does not constitute an "invasion" nor an attempt to "dominate" or make economic profit from the Caribbean nation.
The Salvadoran leader has also focused on the financial effort that his country assumes to sustain this military intervention. "We are almost the only ones paying for this operation. Although we receive a little logistical help from other countries, we are covering 90% of the costs with our own and small coffers. This has cost us dearly, but we have learned from our own suffering: justice and peace have no price," he has pointed out.
"This is not an operation against the Haitian people, nor an invasion of Haiti. We are not a great power. We have no interest in dominating the Haitian people or in seizing Haiti's wealth," Bukele has reiterated, asking for the trust of the local citizenry and assuring that, once the rescue and stabilization mission is concluded, the Salvadoran forces "will return home".
Military deployment and coordination with the Haitian Government
The president's words are framed after the recent phone conversation held with the prime minister of Haiti, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, in which both agreed on the coordination of a far-reaching security offensive aimed at freeing the four kidnapped soldiers.
The personnel were captured two weeks ago in an ambush against a vehicle of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF, by its acronym in English) in the Santo area, within the metropolitan area of Croix-des-Bouquets.
Currently, El Salvador maintains deployed in Haiti a contingent of more than 2,000 soldiers, who act mainly in the areas of Plaine du Cul-de-Sac and in the surroundings of Santo. In turn, the Haitian Government has defined the rescue operation as a national priority and has reiterated its willingness to cooperate with the Salvadoran forces, underlining respect for the sovereignty of the country.