Antonio Alvarez

Antonio Alvarez is the primary antagonist of Call of Juarez: The Cartel. Alvarez is a Vietnam War veteran and federal informant working for the Mendoza Cartel. He is a suspect in the Independence Day Bombing, making him a target for the Interagency Task Force, led by his erstwhile friend Ben McCall.

Antonio Alvarez is voiced by Jesse Corti.

Early Life
Antonio Alvarez was born in 1948 in San Diego, California. During his tour of duty in the Vietnam War, Alvarez became close friends with fellow recruits Ben McCall and Patrick Stone.

However, their friendship collapsed after Alvarez was brought to military tribunal for the rape and murder of Hue Pham in the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon; at the behest the army wishing to avoid scandal, Stone refused to testify against him, leaving the court without a witness and unable to convict Alvarez. This obstruction of justice disgusted McCall, who developed a grudge against both men that would persist years after the war's end.

Call of Juarez: The Cartel
After Patrick Stone is killed in a bomb attack on July 4th, 2011, Deputy Director Shane Dickson assembles a task force led by McCall, now a Los Angeles homicide detective, for his past relations with Stone and Alvarez and rapport with Stone's daughter, Jessica, who reveals Alvarez had been arguing with Stone about a fifty million-dollar deal the night before his death.

Throughout the investigation, Alvarez contacts DEA agent Eddie Guerra anonymously, offering to pay off his massive gambling debt in exchange for endangering Jessica Stone and eventually threatening him for her father's evidence.

Learning Patrick had left key evidence with his retired colleague Kevin Donleavy, the team arranges for Jessica to meet with Donleavy at the Panorama nightclub, where they encounter Alvarez lurking amongst the crowd. Under suspicion of Cartel connections, FBI agent Kimberly Evans assassinates Donleavy, causing Jessica to flee in terror. Though the squad pursues, neither Jessica nor Alvarez are found.

The team captures Cartel prince Jesús Mendoza, sent to sort out the stolen payment. McCall learns that Jessica is indeed in Cartel custody, and that Jesús is scheduled to meet with arms dealer Michael Duke to buy military-grade hardware for the syndicate. The squad meets with Duke disguised as Jesús' entourage, but encounter Alvarez, who recognizes them but sarcastically plays along with their facade. In private, he meets with Evans to offer information on Duke and an alibi for Jesús' abduction, in exchange for the destruction of Stone's evidence, and protection from McCall.

Ben arranges a hostage exchange for Jessica with Jesús at the Mexican border, but is again foiled by Alvarez, who assassinates both captives to preserve his cover as a federal informant, pinning the blame on McCall and Duke via a fabricated text message. The incident fractures the team and brings their secret agendas to light, and Stone's evidence reveals that the Cartel's contact in the U.S. government is none other than Shane Dickson, as well as remorse for his refusal to take the stand against Alvarez in Vietnam.

The squad hunts down Alvarez in the hacienda of Cartel leader Juan Mendoza, where he offers Eddie half of Araña's cash shipment to murder his squadmates, and Kim's superior Allen Watters demands she leave Alvarez unharmed. McCall is intent on killing Alvarez, convinced that the courts will release him in exchange for his testimony.

In the collective ending of the game, Alvarez implicates Dickson and is indeed set free, heralded by the Deputy Attorney General as exemplary of having "the courage to do the right thing". If the player chooses to kill their teammates, Alvarez pulls a grenade on them, and flees.

Appearance
Antonio Alvarez is a broadly built and exceptionally fit man in his early sixties, and typically wears a deep blue suit jacket and matching slacks, with a purple fabric shirt with protruding collar beneath, and left largely unbuttoned to reveal the stripe of hair on his chest. He sports a metal belt buckle of an eight-pointed star on his belt and thick gold chain around his neck, along with gold-rimmed sunglasses he rarely removes that cover much of his face; beneath them, his brow is naturally furrowed and face wrinkled.

Unlike his days in Vietnam, Alvarez has grown a full horseshoe mustache and long hair, slicked back; as per his age, it is entirely graying.

Personality
Alvarez is a master of self-preservation, able to discern and manipulate other's agendas to his own ends. He is wholly amoral, willing to murder anyone and back any agenda, acting as an agent for both Mendoza Cartel and the FBI and supporting either faction as it suits him. These qualities essentially show that Alvarez has signs of psychopathy. Ultimately, however, Alvarez is loyal only to himself, and betrays almost every one of his employers and acquaintances throughout The Cartel.

As an informant, is also well-versed in criminal and private affairs, blackmailing Eddie Guerra and providing Kim Evans with inteliigence on Michael Duke and Juan Mendoza at a lucrative price. He harbors no great affection for his former friends from Vietnam, and indeed takes pleasure in murdering Stone and his daughter and taunting McCall over his tribunal.

Trivia

 * During the meeting with Duke in Raytown, Alvarez mentions he was not welcomed much by his fellow American citizens. This hatred he recieved, plus the experiences in Vietnam, and the rape and murder he committed could have been major factors in the development of his psychopathy.


 * No matter what ending is chosen for each character, Alvarez manages to escape death and imprisonment. If Ben kills his teammates, he recieves a postcard from Alvarez who fled to Tijuana, Mexico. If Eddie or Kim kill their teammates, Shane Dickson recieves the postcard.


 * The postcard in each of the alternate endings has the same message: "La felicidad es tener amigos en lugares altos." In English this translates to "Happiness is having friends in high places".


 * Alvarez is currently the only antagonist in the Call of Juarez series who is not killed.
 * The name Antonio is of Italian, Portugese, and Spanish origin. It translates to "priceless" or "inestimable worth". Alvarez is Spanish and means "Son of Alvaro". His first name seems fitting as his role in the game in regards to the Mendoza Cartel and FBI, even though he betrays them.


 * Alvarez's character model can be unlocked in Multiplayer at level 50 of the Criminal team. The generic voice, however, is not replaced.