U.S. Sends Attack Aircraft to El Salvador Amid Regional Troop Buildup
"A New York Times analysis of satellite imagery and air traffic control communications found that U.S. military planes began operating out of the Central American country in mid-October.
At least three U.S. military aircraft, including a heavily armed attack plane, have begun flying missions out of El Salvador’s main international airport in an expansion of the extraordinary U.S. troop buildup in the Caribbean, according to an analysis of satellite images, air traffic control communications and flight tracking data.
The attack plane, an AC-130J Ghostrider, is designed to destroy targets on the ground or at sea using missiles or barrages from its cannons and machine guns. It is operated by the Air Force Special Operations Command, a unit that carries out sensitive missions for the military. The New York Times also identified a Navy reconnaissance plane and a rarely seen, unmarked Air Force jet at the airport.
The influx of forces into the region started in late August, just before the Trump administration began launching what it said were counternarcotics missions while also planning for possible military action in Venezuela. The buildup has included about 10,000 U.S. troops along with drones, bombers and nearly a dozen Navy warships, soon to be bolstered by the arrival of the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford. So far, the Department of Defense has reported 16 lethal strikes on boats it says were involved in drug smuggling.
The deployment to El Salvador is likely to be the first time a foreign country has hosted U.S. planes that may be involved in military strikes in the region. And it further reflects the warm ties between the Trump administration and El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, who has aided President Trump’s immigration strategy by jailing deportees from the United States at a notorious maximum-security prison.
“In this sphere, they seem so well aligned,” said John Walsh, director for drug policy and the Andes at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights organization.
Neither Mr. Bukele’s office nor El Salvador’s Embassy in the United States responded to a request for comment about the planes’ deployment. Two U.S. military officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, confirmed to The Times that the presence of these aircraft is related to the increase in counternarcotics missions in the region.
The Times first identified the U.S. planes through satellite images of Cooperative Security Location Comalapa, a small American military outpost at El Salvador’s main airport."
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