Report: El Salvador Rejects US Criticism of Its Troops in Haiti
The Facts
- El Salvador has rebuked the U.S. Department of State after it raised objections to the country's ongoing military intervention in Haiti to combat criminal gangs, according to an exclusive report by Axios.
- The dispute reportedly began when an attack on a Salvadoran convoy on Oct. 31 damaged the U.S. embassy in Haiti, but escalated on Nov. 3 after Salvadoran helicopters repulsed a gang attack on Chadian troops belonging to the U.N.-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF), a 5,500-strong mission to neutralize Haiti's gang crisis.
- Following the latter, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires David Howell reportedly complained to Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé that Salvadoran forces were "going to kill [GSF] troops or civilians and or get themselves killed," claiming the Salvadorans took three casualties.
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The Spin
Pro-government narrative
El Salvador's mission in Haiti, in conjunction with the GSF and other international interventions, is helping free the country from the grip of the gangs. For too long, these criminal organizations have run amok, running guns, peddling drugs and fighting for turf to the misery of the Haitian people. Only through force can this cycle of violence and criminality end.
Government-critical narrative
By piling thousands more troops into Haiti, El Salvador is only exacerbating a crisis created by international meddling in the first place. Instead of helping the Haitian people, it will fuel the violence, leading to more coffins and more grieving families. If the world wants lasting peace, it should pursue it through diplomacy and democracy, not the barrel of a gun.
