Miss Universe El Salvador unfurls the Haitian flag and salutes Salvadoran troops in Haiti

Sofía Córdova, Miss Universe El Salvador 2026, waved the Haitian flag on Saturday, November 7, 2026 in San Salvador, at the send-off held before she leaves for the Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico. In a video posted by the Miss Universe El Salvador organization, she sends a message to the Salvadoran soldiers deployed in Haiti.

"May God protect them"

In the footage, shot at night before the crowd that came to see her off in San Salvador's historic center, Sofía Córdova, wearing her crown and Miss Universe sash, unfurls a large blue and red flag bearing Haiti's coat of arms.

"A very special greeting to our brave Salvadoran soldiers who are in Haiti. Thank you for your courage, your commitment and for representing our country with such honor," she writes in the message accompanying the video. "I know being away from your families is not easy [...] May God protect you, give you strength and let you return home soon."

The video drew more than 13,000 likes in a day and was widely shared by Haitian pages.

More than 2,000 troops in Haiti

The gesture comes as El Salvador has deployed more than 2,000 troops to Haiti since four of its air force technicians serving with the Gang Suppression Force went missing on October 18. The UN has said most of them operate outside that force's mandate ([read our article](https://nago.tv/news/l-onu-place-la-plupart-des-soldats-salvadoriens-en-haiti-hors-du-manda)).

Sofía Córdova, crowned Miss Universe El Salvador in June as the representative of the Salvadoran diaspora, will compete at the 75th Miss Universe pageant, scheduled for November in Puerto Rico.