I wondered what others thought because one of the criticisms of the novel, in a particularly nasty blog, accused Cummins of writing a "telenovela". As a friend and I were discussing this scene in the book, she thought it was a unnecessarily overdramatic. While it seemed to violate El Chacal's code of conduct, right before this scene, El Chacal had been ruminating about how he got started in this business and how much he used to enjoy what he did. I have loaned my copy of the book, so I am not sure I am remembering correctly- -but I think he was considering retirement because he was losing his empathy for the migrants and bothered by all the new hassles of paying off this person or that person.
And even though "he knew better", perhaps this would be the deciding factor in El Chacal's retirement- -he no longer cares about his own "rules".