Haitians welcome deployment of Salvadoran troops as gang violence rages on

Haitians have welcomed the deployment of Salvadoran troops to the country to help in the fight against gang violence. They're guarding the main stadium in the capital Port-au-Prince after Haitian security forces regained control of it on Thursday, following two years under gang control. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele says it will serve as an operational base for the around 2,000 soldiers sent to Haiti. The gangs drove me out of my home. Since then, I've been wandering from one place to another. With Bukele's arrival, I feel a certain pride at the thought of regaining my freedom. Thank you very much. Welcome to Sunday Decking. Bukele said his soldiers will launch an offensive from the stadium . . . . and urged gang members to abandon the area. . . He gained attention for bringing Salvadoran gangs to heel, but the . . . . authoritarian leader has been accused of human rights violations. . . . It's been less than four weeks. . . I have four children. Each of them is in a different place. . . . . In the past, the country wasn't like this. . . . When I was a child, I grew up in Port-au-Prince . . and I could move around the city whenever I wanted. . . My ship was up with a land break. . . Bukele first ordered the deployment of troops to Haiti to rescue four Salvadoran soldiers who went missing after an ambush in Port-au-Prince. Gangs expanded their control over large swathes of the city following the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Haiti is our country. We have no other one to go to. We must be able to live here. We're Haitians. We're in our own home. We're not at war with another country. These are our Haitian compatriots. If Bukele wishes Jesus will speak to his heart and he'll give us back our country. Thank you very much. Thank you. Experts say many Haitians welcome the idea of a Bukele-style hardline crackdown. As conditions are so awful that people are desperate to be delivered from the gangs, the Salvadoran troops are operating outside the official framework of the UN-backed gang suppression force.