US greenlights El Salvador’s troop surge into Haiti - Semafor

US President Donald Trump endorsed El Salvador’s decision to surge troops into Haiti, as President Nayib Bukele threatened to “teach the gangs a lesson” following the disappearance of four Salvadorans serving in the UN force there.

As many as 2,000 Salvadoran troops are deploying — a number that could double or triple, Axios reported. Bukele, who slashed El Salvador’s murder rates through a draconian crackdown, is pioneering a “new form of intervention, more direct and less constrained by multilateral rules,” an expert told The New York Times.

It could make the country’s gang crisis even deadlier: “The overall security picture is not pointing towards one of stabilization,” a Council on Foreign Relations expert told Reuters. “It’s pointing towards one of escalation.”