Let me say something unpopular. The best thing that has happened to Haiti in a generation is that someone finally showed up with a proper army.
Some history first. After the 1994 US intervention, Haiti dissolved its own military in 1995. On paper it was a democratic reform. In practice it left a country with no force able to hold territory, so the gangs filled the vacuum. Since then the world has sent a long line of missions with tiny mandates, little money and no appetite for risk. The Kenyan-led mission was the latest in that line, and it never had the numbers or the will to do the job. Everyone wanted Haiti fixed, but nobody wanted to pay for it, so nobody did. It was obvious that something terrible would have to happen before anyone acted.
The tragedy came on 18 October. Gangs kidnapped four Salvadoran technicians working with the Gang Suppression Force, and El Salvador launched a military intervention on 21 October. The men were non-combatant aviation technicians, there to support the mission. Haiti’s bad luck was that the victims were Salvadorans. Nayib Bukele doesn’t do half measures. By 29 October he had 2,000 soldiers on the ground, more than the force itself had deployed.
Is Bukele tough? Yes, very. His state of emergency has put more than 90,000 people in prison, and you can argue about the methods all day. But you can’t argue with the result: he took a country owned by gangs and gave it back to its citizens. If there is one leader with the conviction, the means and the nerve to go into Haiti and do the job, it’s him.
He also has an ego, and I mean that as a compliment to his strategy. He wants the world to see what kind of leader he is, and he cares enormously about international perception. Haiti is the biggest stage he could ask for, and he cannot afford to be seen losing on it. That, more than any treaty or mandate, is why I believe this attempt has a real chance. Before, the countries involved could walk away. Bukele has made it a matter of personal credibility.
What does it mean for the Dominican Republic? Everything. We have carried the Haitian crisis for decades. Millions of Haitians have found work, healthcare and safety here, and you can’t put a price on that. But it costs our hospitals and public services, and migration estimates of 2 to 3 million are a real strain. We also never joined the fight. Our government has publicly ruled out sending troops to Haiti, and we have always protected our own border seriously, with a wall, new equipment and a real military. This is not the US-Mexico border, and nobody here pretends otherwise.
Now imagine a stable Haiti next door. Investment becomes possible, and Haitian labor stays cheap for a long time anyway. Pressure on our border and our public services eases, because people stop fleeing and start rebuilding at home. Dominican growth gets room to run without a permanent emergency on its doorstep. Even a partial success changes the math for everyone on this island.
It’s sad that it took a kidnapping to get here. But if this works, it will be the first time in thirty years that someone actually did what Haiti needed.
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