Salvadoran President Warns Haitian Gangs Holding Hostages: ‘We Can Finish With You Too’

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele warned Haitian gangs that his military could “finish with you too” after four Salvadoran aviation technicians were taken hostage following an ambush Sunday.

The four technicians, whom Bukele described as “non-combatants,” were in Haiti as part of the United Nations-backed international Gang Suppression Force. Salvadoran officials initially said the men had escaped an ambush on their armored vehicle on foot. Bukele later confirmed that they were being held hostage.

“To the gang leaders and gang members holding our four compatriots hostage in Haiti: Our kidnapped men are not combatants. They are aviation technicians who are part of our mission in Haiti, within the framework of an international mission,” Bukele explained in his message, posted to X in Haitian Creole.

“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,” Bukele continued. “However, they were kidnapped in a cowardly manner while returning after buying food at a market in the area.”

Bukele went on to note that the Salvadoran military was already moving to rescue the four hostages, and warned the gang members that they would not stop until all four were safely returned.

“Today, we have launched a military operation to rescue them. We have a single objective: to bring our four compatriots back home alive, without any harm. 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,” he said. “And do not take our word for empty threats. We have already finished with the gangs in El Salvador, and we can finish with you too. We still have time to avoid this. 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.”

The initial attack, CNN reported, was an ambush and marked the first real attempt by local gangs to strike the GSF. It took place in Croix-des-Bouquets, a small, once-peaceful neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, the island nation’s capital city.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz pledged to help secure the technicians’ rescue, adding, “To the gangs and gang leaders who carried out this cowardly attack, if you think you’re going to intimidate this coalition into retreat, you have made a terrible mistake.”

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