On May 20, Carlos Ernesto Mojica, known as «El Viejo Lin,» former leader of one of the factions of the Barrio 18 gang, died. He was 63 years old and was serving a sentence for several crimes at the Zacatecoluca Maximum Security Prison.

The story of Carlos Mojica reflects the contemporary history of El Salvador: He became involved in the armed struggle as a teenager in 1981, and at 18 he was arrested for “subversion” along with other members of the FMLN. He deserted the organization in 1983 and went to the United States.

In Los Angeles, California, he became involved with other members of the Salvadoran diaspora who at that time formed gangs to confront other criminal groups that patrolled the city. 

He returned to El Salvador in the early 1990s, he was imprisoned in 1992, and from prison he was in charge of leading one of the bloodiest gangs in the region.

Between 2012 and 2013, he participated in negotiations with officials of President Mauricio Funes who sought to reach agreements with gangs to reduce crime; in exchange, they received economic and prison benefits.

The agreements even involved electoral support. According to the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), gang members were given cell phones, television screens, and were even allowed to organize parties inside the prisons.

According to members of Barrio 18, in 2019 the government of Nayib Bukele began negotiations with their organization, but the links date back to 2014 when the president was a candidate for mayor of San Salvador.

The truce broke down in 2022 after a significant increase in homicides in the country. Since then, Bukele has implemented a state of emergency that remains in effect and restricts civil liberties.

The death of Carlos Mojica, alias “El Viejo Lin”, marks the end of an era in El Salvador, although not the end of the violence that is now exercised by the State against unjustly imprisoned civilians and against those who question the decisions of President Bukele