Haiti delays its first elections in over a decade until July as 2,000 Salvadoran troops arrive to fight gangs

Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council has pushed the first round of presidential elections to 18 July 2027, with a second round on 4 October, after gang violence disrupted an earlier December date. The country has had no elected government since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021, leaving an unelected prime minister in charge for over five years.

El Salvador's 2,000-plus troops are hunting four Salvadoran Air Force technicians who vanished on 18 October after gangs destroyed their armoured vehicle in Croix-des-Bouquets.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele dispatched the force after local officials presented four bodies whose identities and uniforms did not match the missing men.

Among presidential hopefuls are former presidents Michel Martelly and Claude Joseph — though Martelly has been sanctioned by the US over corruption allegations.