Haitians Roll Out Welcome Mat For Bukele’s Anti-Gang Forces

Haitians poured into the streets chanting Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s name and handing out water bottles to his men in a public display of support for his anti-gang efforts.

Crowds cheered as Bukele’s personnel moved through the streets, with Haitians chanting the Salvadoran leader’s name in footage obtained by Visegrad 24 on Tuesday. The apparent welcome comes as Haiti continues to grapple with widespread gang violence, indicating Bukele’s hardline approach to organized crime is gaining support among Haitians desperate for security and stability.

Videos of citizens handing out water bottles to Salvadoran soldiers also circulated throughout Facebook.

Haiti has a widespread gang problem that has resulted in thousands of deaths and over a million displacements. At least 26 gangs are active in Haiti’s capital of Port-Au-Prince.

Bukele initially deployed soldiers to Haiti in early 2025 in order to combat the rampant gang crisis, according to El Salvador News. Several Salvadoran soldiers working with the United Nations’ Gang Suppression Force (GSF) were kidnapped by gang members on Oct. 18. Following the kidnapping, he deployed 2,000 more troops to the region on Oct. 29, to formally combat gangs.

As Salvadoran soldiers engaged in combat operations, Bukele addressed the Haitian people in a Tuesday X post in Haitian Creole.

“We are people with the same courage as you. We must stand up, take back control of our communities, and put under our control those who are making us endure all this pain, all this suffering,” it read in part.

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