ANTONIO VASQUEZ

General Antonio Vasquez, the head of the secret police in a third world Central American country, had risen within the military to the rank of a two-star general. His intention was to make a power move within the government, and with an army behind him he needed only to acquire the weapons. He turned to Dave Ryerson, a deported American with connections to the crime syndicate, and the two met at Ryerson's hacienda to work out an arms deal. However, Kate Conolly, an American photojournalist whom MacGyver had been sent to retrieve, photographed the meeting, and Kate and MacGyver were apprehended. Using plastique as a diversion, MacGyver and Kate were able to escape, and they intended to smuggle the photographic evidence out of the country, however Vasquez locked the country down to prevent them from crossing the border with the photos. Vasquez and Ryerson combined their resources, and as the army pursued MacGyver and Kate, Vasquez's men blocked off all approaches to the border. MacGyver and Kate were forced instead to go through the blockade, and using homemade smoke bombs as a diversion, they rolled down a hill in a barrel, through the firing soldiers and into the river from which they could swim to safety in Mexico. Ryerson had been confident that the pair would be caught, and when MacGyver and Kate eluded capture, Vasquez kept his vengeful promise to destroy Ryerson, ordering immediately that he be killed.

Portrayed by: Gregory Sierra

Cross Reference: Central America, Kate Conolly, Gomez, Diego Montoya, Dave Ryerson

Episode Reference: The Gauntlet