Haiti Police Retake Stadium From Gangs

HAITI · SECURITY

Published Thursday, Nov. 12, 9:40 p.m. ET (same time in Port-au-Prince) · Source: Haitian National Police, Salvadoran presidency

For two years, Haiti’s national football stadium belonged to gangs. On Thursday, 12 November 2026, police said it is theirs again.

Haiti’s National Police said they retook Sylvio Cator Stadium in downtown Port-au-Prince in the early hours of that day. It is the latest turn in the Haiti crisis, in which armed groups control much of the country.

Police said in a statement that they regained control of the stadium and its surroundings together with a special unit they call the Task Force. They then handed security of the site to Salvadoran soldiers, troops sent by El Salvador to help fight Haiti’s gangs.

Why This Stadium Matters

Sylvio Cator opened in 1953 and holds about 10,000 spectators. It was the home ground of Haiti’s national football team until the violence forced the players abroad.

The stadium stands in central Port-au-Prince, near the Bicentenaire district, the Portail-Léogâne area and the roads leading to Martissant. That position gives its holders a view of key access routes into the city.

Haiti played its home World Cup qualifiers in Curaçao instead. The team, coached by France’s Sébastien Migné, still reached its second World Cup finals, then lost all three group games, to Scotland, Brazil and Morocco.

Bukele Promises an Offensive

Bukele wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in Haitian Creole on Thursday that his forces would now set up an operational base in the stadium. He said they would use it to advance into the heart of gang-held territory.

He told gang members to leave and warned that those who stay to fight will bear the consequences. His video shows soldiers and armoured vehicles inside the stadium.

About 2,000 Salvadoran soldiers arrived in late October. Bukele’s methods at home have drawn accusations of human rights abuses.

The Gang Suppression Force, the United Nations-backed multinational mission in Haiti, is a separate body. On Tuesday, 10 November, Bukele said his troops had destroyed the headquarters of 400 Mawozo, one of Haiti’s main gangs, based around Croix-des-Bouquets near the capital.

What It Means for US Readers

The 400 Mawozo gang kidnapped 17 missionaries from Christian Aid Ministries, an Ohio-based charity, in October 2021. Sixteen were Americans and one was Canadian, and all had been freed or had escaped by mid-December 2021.

A Salvadoran-led push against that gang is therefore a story with an American memory attached. Travellers should keep treating Haiti as unsafe; our Haiti travel safety guide has the details.

What Is Not Known

The police statement gave no exact hour, no count of the officers or soldiers involved and no casualty figures. How the work was split between police, the Task Force and Salvadoran troops, is unclear.

The base is so far Bukele’s announcement alone. We had found no reaction from the United Nations, the Gang Suppression Force (the UN-backed multinational mission) or Haiti’s government at the time of writing.

More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Haitian police announce?

They said they retook Sylvio Cator Stadium in Port-au-Prince from gangs in the early hours of Thursday, 12 November 2026. Salvadoran soldiers then took over security of the site.

What happens next at the stadium?

El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele says his troops will set up an operational base there. He says it will support an offensive into gang-held areas.

Sources: Statement of the Haitian National Police Communications Directorate, 12 November 2026; post by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele on X, 12 November 2026 and his announcement of 10 November 2026; UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH); Rio Times reporting on the Haiti crisis.