US greenlights El Salvador’s troop surge into Haiti

The US approved the deployment, which could exacerbate gang violence in the country. 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.”