The president of El Salvador thus links the dispatch of the contingent, the images released and the operation conducted with the Haitian police to a clear objective: ending the reign of the gangs. The reputation for brutal and controversial methods that accompanies Nayib Bukele, and the figure of about twenty dead put forward by witnesses, nevertheless leave open the question of the means by which this promise is presented as already fulfilled.
This promise consists of ending the reign of the gangs on the island. It comes from a leader known for brutal and controversial methods: the deployment of a Salvadoran expeditionary force thus becomes the stated means of honoring a commitment whose very nature raises questions.
The presidential message does not present itself as a mere intention. Accompanied by images and written in Haitian Creole, it addresses the Haitian public by presenting the action as already accomplished. Nayib Bukele hails a promise kept: that of breaking the grip of the criminal gangs.
The announced strength reaches some 2,500 soldiers. These troops are intervening on an island already subjected to extreme violence attributed to the gangs. Their engagement is not taking place in isolation: an operation is being conducted on the ground by the Haitian police and Salvadoran troops.
According to witnesses on the scene, about twenty people are said to have died in this operation. The toll remains attributed to those witnesses. No other count is reported to specify the identity of the victims or the circumstances of each death.