Recapture of Sylvio-Cator Stadium in Port-au-Prince: Salvadorian military deployed against gangs
Haitian police announced total control of Sylvio-Cator Stadium, occupied by gangs since 2024, with the support of Salvadorian soldiers.
Haitian police and Salvadorian military recapture Sylvio-Cator Stadium from gangs
Haitian police announced on Thursday that they had regained control of Port-au-Prince's Sylvio-Cator Stadium, occupied since 2024 by armed groups. According to liberation.fr, the operation was carried out alongside foreign mercenaries, and the site was subsequently placed under the guard of Salvadorian military personnel.
An AFP photographer observed on site that these soldiers had "taken position" within the stadium on Thursday. El Salvador's public television channel confirmed their presence.
Bukele announces an "offensive" from Port-au-Prince
Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele specified, in a post on X written in Haitian Creole, that his troops would establish an operational base within the stadium in order to "continue their advance into the heart of gang-controlled territories". He announced the launch of an "offensive" and urged gang members to leave the affected areas: "Those who choose to stay to fight our forces will have to face the consequences."
The post was accompanied by a video showing soldiers and armoured vehicles entering the stadium. Some footage shows gunfire directed towards the outside of the stadium, while other footage reveals human skulls among the rubble.
Approximately 2,000 soldiers deployed outside UN framework
The operation is part of a deployment of approximately 2,000 soldiers ordered by Bukele in late October. This contingent operates outside the framework of the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force. Bukele's method, which had already been applied in El Salvador with tangible results, has been subject to accusations of human rights violations.
On Tuesday, the Salvadorian president had stated that his troops had destroyed the "headquarters" of the 400 Mawozo gang, one of Haiti's main criminal organisations.
A stadium symbol of national football reduced to abandonment
Inaugurated in 1953, Sylvio-Cator Stadium can accommodate approximately 10,000 spectators and was the main venue for matches of Haiti's national football team. Falling into the hands of gangs in 2024, it became a symbol of the increasing grip of these armed groups on Haitian territory.
Gangs today control much of the country, considered the poorest in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Due to the violence, the Haitian national team — the majority of whose players compete abroad — had been forced to play their home matches in Curaçao during the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in North America. Despite these conditions, the Grenadiers, coached by Frenchman Sébastien Migné, secured a second historic qualification for a World Cup final tournament. They were nevertheless eliminated in the first round, after three defeats to Scotland, Brazil and Morocco.
Source: Google News HT — Crime