The Public Face of MS-13: An In-Depth Look at Leader Borromeo Enrique Henríquez Solórzano

The Public Face of MS-13: An In-Depth Look at Leader Borromeo Enrique Henríquez Solórzano

The Juzgado Primero de Instrucción (First Court of Instruction), in the small Salvadoran municipality of Soyapango, convicted Borromeo Enrique Henríquez Solórzano to 30 years in prison on June 3, 1998 for the double homicide of Roberto Carlos Hernandez and José Virgilio Gonzalez (Diario Oficial, October 3, 2005). At the time, officials in El Salvador only knew that Solórzano was a member of the feared Mara Salvatrucha gang (a.k.a. MS-13), created on the streets of Los Angeles in the 1980s by Salvadoran immigrants fleeing the civil war in their country. While Solórzano has been languishing in prison for over a decade, he has risen to become the nominal leader of MS-13 and today the Salvadoran National Civilian Police (Policía Nacional Civil, PNC) publicly acknowledge that Solórzano sits atop the leadership of MS-13 and continues to make decisions on kidnappings, assassinations, extortions and large-scale gang activity from his prison cell (El Faro [San Salvador], August 8). 

Though Solórzano has become the public face of MS-13, his power in this position is questionable given the complex structure of MS-13. Solórzano fervently denies that he is the gang’s leader and has declared that he is merely been given his role by the media, but in reality he cannot make any decisions without “taking into account the voice of all his people” (El Faro [San Salvador], October 8).  

In 2012 the PNC published a graph entitled “National Ranfla MS113 Gang” that depicted the 45 leading members of the MS-13 who police classify as “the elite” (El Faro [San Salvador], August 8). Borromeo Enrique Henríquez Solórzano (a.k.a. El Diablo), sits at the top of this graph. Alongside Solórzano is his longtime friend and gang member Ricardo Adalberto Díaz (a.k.a. La Rata – the Rat). Together these men are considered the Jefes Nacionales (National Leaders) of MS-13.  

Both Solórzano and Díaz joined MS-13 in Los Angeles as teenagers in the 1990s (El Faro [San Salvador], August 8). A few years later on July 20, 1997, Solórzano shot two victims to death in the Salvadoran city of Ilopango. The next year Solórzano was sentenced for 15 years for the murder of Roberto Carlos Hernandez and 15 years for the murder of José Virgilio Gonzalez, plus an additional three years for belonging to a gang (Diario Oficial, October 3, 2005). Considering that MS-13 was only established in El Salvador in 1992, it was clear that Solórzano and Díaz were some of the earliest members of the organization and were destined to become monumental figures in the group’s future. 

Proving his worth to the gang just one year after his 1999 imprisonment at the Quezaltepeque prison, Solórzano escaped by digging a tunnel out of the prison (El Diario de Hoy, October 10, 2012). He was able to remain free for one year under the alias Racson Mario Rivera (La Prensa Grafica, March 22, 2012). Eventually, however, Salvadoran authorities caught up with Rivera and he was put back in jail. Records obtained from his time at Quezaltepeque show that Solórzano was known for “obstructing the administrative work, especially programs for rehabilitation” and was “considered a threat to the physical integrity of the staff” (La Prensa Grafica, March 22, 2012). Eventually, after bouncing around to five other prisons, he was transferred in 2005 to the toughest maximum-security prison in El Salvador, the Zacatecoluca prison. Being transferred to Zacatecoluca was a promotion of sorts, as only the most dangerous gang members from MS-13 were transferred there.  

Solórzano fit in well at Zacatecoluca and officially became part of the ranfla (wheel, “a collective decision-making body”), which is the top command of the MS-13 in El Salvador (El Faro [El Salvador], March 14; El Faro [El Salvador], October 11, 2012). It was during this time that Solórzano became a palabrero (“those who have the word”), the gang leaders that control the smaller cliques. Within the ranfla, Solórzano earned himself a unique reputation, becoming known as a man who has “an extraordinary way with words” who could “act as a facilitator” between the gang and authorities (El Faro [San Salvador], October 11, 2012). Due to his authoritative and articulate speaking style, the ranfla chose him to be their voice; he is typically the one who talks to the media and is the public face of the gang (El Faro [San Salvador], October 11, 2012).

During his time at Zacatecoluca, Solórzano continued to cultivate his reputation as a ruthless gang leader. Solórzan ordered the assassination of two MS-13 gang members, Jose Hilton Chicas Garcia and Nixon Villatoro Edwin Bonilla, at the end of August for insubordination (El Salvador, August 22, 2012). The assassination of two high-ranking MS-13 members under Solórzano’s authority demonstrates how ruthless he can be.  

Fulfilling these dual roles of eloquent MS-13 spokesperson/articulate leader and brutal killer who operates in the trenches of day-to-day gang warfare created a unique role for Solórzano and he started to act as a liaison between the MS-13 leadership and the Salvadoran government. He earned the respect of the gang from his days as a violent murderer; his way with words and his ability to speak candidly earned him respect from the Salvadoran government.

Early this year, Solórzano presented the Salvadoran government with a document entitled “Proposed Resolution Framework for the Recovery of Social Peace in El Salvador” (ML News [Washington], July 23, 2012). The document set the stage for a set of formal negotiations to end the massive spike in violence that had resulted in 14 homicides a day in the Central American country. In the document, MS-13 leaders, led by Solórzano, stated that they would create a truce with their main rival, the Barrio 18, if the government eased certain restrictions on the gangs (ML News, July 23, 2012). Not only did Solórzano lead the negotiations with the Salvadoran government but he also spoke directly to Carlos Ernesto Mojica Lechuga, the longtime leader of Barrio 18 (El Nuevo Herald [Miami], July 12, 2012). Solórzano also insisted that Secretary General of the Organization of American States José Miguel Insulza and gang mediators Monsignor Fabio Colindres and Raul Mijango were present during the negotiations to ensure the process was equitable and transparent (El-Nacional [La Paz], July 13, 2012).  

During the negotiations, Solórzano spoke passionately about MS-13’s willingness to end gang violence for the sake of El Salvador. He showed a concern for his country and his countrymen as well as an in-depth understanding of politics, constitutional norms and civil liberties. During negotiations he told reporters that the prior administration in El Salvador, under the Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA) party, was unwilling to negotiate seriously. He was quoted as saying “we want a better life for our kids when we get out and so we went sincerely and we trusted them. We went as [humble] people but we didn’t realize until it was too late that we were meeting with political big shots [persons more concerned about their image and maintaining that image than a sincere interchange].” [1] 

He also cited the Salvadoran constitution as a guarantor of fundamental rights, telling a reporter that the constitution provides the right “to be comrades, to meet, to walk around and go wherever we want, without violence” (El Faro [San Salvador], October 11, 2012). Ultimately, through Solórzano’s artful negotiation, MS-13 won a major concession and on March 8, 2012 30 leaders of MS-13, including Solórzano, were transferred from the maximum security prison at Zacatecoluca to the medium level facility known as the Ciudad Barrios prison, where prisoners are able to receive visitors and have physical contact (Urgent24, March 24, 2012). 

Immediately after the transfer, MS-13 leaders issued orders from the prison to stop all killings and assassinations (El Faro [San Salvador], March 22, 2012). Homicides in El Salvador fell by 53 percent in the week after the transfers (5 per day) and several other gangs, including the Mara Machine, Crazy Look, Mao Mao, La Raza and Disorder Mara, joined the truce after witnessing its successes and seeing the leadership of Solórzano (Hispano, October 4, 2012).  

While authorities wrestle to contain MS-13 in the Americas, it is clear is that while the gang may not have an official leadership, Solórzano is a leading member of the ranfla and he possesses significant authority in Central America’s criminal underworld. This may not translate into direct authority over all cliques in the United States but it is evident that Solórzano and his fellow inmates at Ciudad Barrios prison control significant gang resources and continue to dictate gang actions throughout the region. Solórzano has proven that he has the capability, knowledge and support to negotiate with authorities, rival gangs and supranational organizations. Moving forward it is clear that he can be negotiated with on sensitive issues. In fact, in a recent interview with El Faro he was asked directly “Is Mara willing to disband?” to which he responded, “We are ready to talk about anything that comes to the table” (El Faro [San Salvador], October 11, 2012). 

Notes  

1. Donna DeCesare, “Salvadoran Gangs: Brutal Legacies and a Desperate Hope,” North American Congress on Latin America, November 23, 2009, Available at: https://nacla.org/node/6260.