Haitian police say they retook Port-au-Prince stadium and handed it to Salvadoran troops; Bukele posts video of rifle-armed robot dogs

Haiti's national stadium is back in government hands after two years of gang control. Who deserves the credit depends on whom you ask.

The Haitian National Police said it recovered Sylvio Cator Stadium in Port-au-Prince on Thursday, Nov. 12, then "turned over control to the Armed Forces of El Salvador that took the lead in consolidating the area." The police statement confirmed "total control" of the site.

President Nayib Bukele described it differently. He posted that the stadium was taken in "a joint operation involving the Haitian National Police, the Haitian Armed Forces, the Task Force, and the Salvadoran Special Forces," under a bilateral agreement between the two governments.

The robot dogs

Bukele's video showed four-legged robots with rifles mounted on their backs moving through a hallway and up a flight of stairs alongside troops. One clip shows a robot next to a soldier carrying what looks like a mounted machine gun.

The footage does not show the machines firing. No independent evidence says they engaged anyone. Bukele did not say what role they played, and the Salvadoran government has not disclosed the manufacturer, the weapon specifications, or whether a human or software decides when to shoot. One trade publication identified the machines as Unitree robot dogs.

El Salvador introduced a Robotic Canine Unit at its Independence Day celebrations in September. It was presented then as equipment for detecting and analyzing illicit substances.

Armed robot dogs are not new. Ghost Robotics and SWORD International showed one with a 6.5mm rifle in 2021, and Chinese state television aired one firing at a target during drills with Cambodia in May 2024. What is unusual is seeing one accompany troops in a real operation.

A gap between the post and the ground

Bukele said "several human skulls" were found inside the stadium. He announced that Salvadoran forces will build an operational base there "so we can continue advancing deeper into territory controlled by the gangs." He told gang members to leave before the offensive begins and said those who stay "will have to face the consequences." More than twenty armored vehicles and trucks carrying Salvadoran personnel are now inside the stadium.

The stadium fell after months of Haitian operations that had been pushing gangs out of neighboring areas. Haitian police and a government task force that flies explosive drones, run out of the prime minister's office, did much of that work. Bukele has been publicly claiming credit for recent security gains made by those forces.

The Miami Herald reported that a Haitian police officer was visibly annoyed when asked about Bukele's post claiming the seizure. The paper described a widening gap between the image Bukele projects online and conditions on the ground.

The Haitian police statement does not dispute that Salvadoran troops now hold the stadium. It does contradict the idea that Salvadorans led the assault.

How El Salvador got here

Four Salvadoran aviation technicians working with the UN-authorized Gang Suppression Force disappeared Oct. 18 after an apparent gang ambush east of Port-au-Prince. Salvadoran officials said the men served in a noncombat role. Bukele said they were medical-evacuation personnel taken while on a supermarket outing.

He first sent 100 special forces to search for them. He then warned the gangs, "Nothing compared to what awaits you if you do not release the four hostages, safe and sound."

The force has grown to roughly 2,000 to 2,500 soldiers. That is more than Haiti's entire army and about equal to the Gang Suppression Force. Bukele said El Salvador would shoulder "90% of the expenses." He wrote that the deployment is "not an operation against the Haitian people nor an invasion of Haiti," and that the goal is to bring the four men home and "teach a lesson to the gangs."

CNN reported, citing a source close to the matter, that the Salvadoran command structure had not been established, and that local sources considered recovery of the four men unlikely. Interim leader Alix Didier Fils-Aimé described a call with Bukele about cooperation "within the framework of the GSF."

The UN announced on Nov. 3 that a Haitian gang leader wanted by the United States had asked it to mediate. That adds another track to a crowded landscape that also includes the GSF, Haitian forces, private contractors, and local vigilante groups.

What comes next

Salvadoran troops now hold a fortified position in central Port-au-Prince, and Bukele has said an advance into gang territory will follow. Several questions remain open. Who commands the Salvadorans? How do they coordinate with the GSF and Haitian forces? Will the four missing technicians be found? Neither government has answered those publicly.