- “There is a class of bureaucrats who do not want to see the change in the Western Hemisphere that POTUS wants,” a US official told Axios.
Zoom: Haiti is a failed state, plagued by extreme corruption and gang violence, despite years of international efforts, including the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF), which El Salvador and other countries have supported.
- Four Salvadoran aviation technicians participating in medical evacuations were captured on October 18 by gangs who refused to heed Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s pleas to return the men or their bodies.
- Bukele responded by sending special forces units to Haiti after receiving the blessing of Trump, an ally, on October 27, Axios first reported.
- “You have to do what you have to do,” Trump told Bukele, who then launched military operations that resulted in gunfights with gangs in the streets of Port-au-Prince.
Point of friction: Tensions between State Department officials and El Salvador flared after an Oct. 31 gang attack on a Salvadoran convoy of five armored personnel carriers near the U.S. Embassy, which was hit by gunfire.
- On November 3, Salvadoran attack helicopters repelled gangs attacking GSF soldiers from Chad, Bukele published on X.
The day after, US charge d’affaires David Howell complained in a text message to Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé that El Salvador was not “coordinating” with the GSF.
- “They caused at least three casualties. They don’t have a medical plan. They almost killed the GSF soldiers if I understand correctly,” according to a copy of the text message shared with Axios.
- Howell asked the prime minister to tell El Salvador’s Defense Ministry to stop operations “as soon as possible…until they coordinate. They’re going to kill GSF soldiers or civilians and/or get killed.”
- El Salvador later accused Howell of spreading false information.
On November 5, the American Embassy in San Salvador sent a formal protest in a diplomatic note to Bukele’s government, saying the United States “strongly opposes this lack of coordination on the part of Salvadoran military personnel,” the document presented to Axios said.
- The memo said El Salvador’s “lack of coordination” endangers the GSF and that “Salvadoran small arms fire” hit the U.S. embassy, ”nearly hitting U.S. personnel.”
Behind the scenes: Bukele was furious at the so-called “dipnote,” a source said.
- “His attitude was, ‘What the fuck? I checked with Trump. He said do what we have to do, and some bureaucrat is against it?’ ” said a source who spoke with Bukele.
- State Department officials said it was unclear who authorized the diplomatic note and had no comment on Howell’s correspondence with the Haitian prime minister.
On Monday, Bukele’s government responded to Howell and State Department officials. El Salvador’s diplomatic note provided a point-by-point rebuttal with 4 “clarifications:”
- Regarding the shooting that hit the embassy, the Salvadoran Foreign Ministry wrote that its troops essentially turned their backs on the building and fired in their direction.
- “It is excluded that the shots of Salvadoran personnel hit the facilities of the American embassy,” El Salvador wrote.
2. During the attack against the Chadian troops, El Salvador wrote: “The Salvadoran personnel repelled the attack. It is excluded that the fire of the Salvadoran elements was directed towards the Chadian position.”
3. El Salvador also stated that since October 26, its armed forces have repeatedly coordinated “air assets” with the GSF and Haitian officials.
4. In its most caustic response, El Salvador said it “categorically denies” Howell’s claim that three of its soldiers were victims.
- “The fact that false information has been disseminated on an issue of such seriousness, without providing any evidence to support it, generates serious doubts about the credibility of the rest of the claims contained in the aforementioned report, which also lack any type of evidence to verify their accuracy,” the note said.
What they say: An official spokesperson for El Salvador could not be contacted. The Haitian prime minister did not respond to messages seeking comment.
- A State Department official insisted that “three Salvadorans were injured…one of whom was serious enough to have been evacuated out of the country for further treatment.”
- A source close to the Salvadoran government showed Axios a photo of the smiling soldier wearing a leg brace and said he was flown out of Haiti because there were no adequate medical facilities, not because the injury was serious.
- The State Department, echoing comments from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday, said it appreciated El Salvador’s efforts, “but the Trump administration has also been clear on the need to decongest anti-gang operations to ensure seamless implementation of President Trump’s policies to support efforts to free Haiti from gangs.”
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