Bukele: 2,000+ Salvadoran troops in Haiti are "not an invasion" and will leave once missing soldiers return alive

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said the deployment of more than 2,000 Salvadoran troops to Haiti is nearly complete and is "not an operation against the Haitian people, nor an invasion," in a post on X and at a news conference, Infodefensa reports. "If they hand over our aviation technicians alive, we go back that same day," he said. (Quotes translated from Spanish.)

Four Salvadoran aviation technicians serving with the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF) have been missing since an Oct. 18 ambush near Port-au-Prince. Bukele says El Salvador is paying about 90% of the cost from its own budget. The troops operate under a bilateral agreement with Haiti's government, Axios reports.

President Trump told Bukele "do what you have to do," according to sources briefed on their call, Axios reports. Bukele confirmed the call on X.

Both Bukele and the GSF have denied a diaspora group's claim of indiscriminate bombing of civilians; the GSF says its aircraft carry no explosives.