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General Garza
General garza
Actor David Zayas
First Seen The Expendables
Last Seen The Expendables
Name General Garza
Status Deceased
Job Dictator
Kill count 2
A man can never kill a child.
—General Garza

General Garza is a military dictator in Vilena, a South American island in the Gulf of Mexico in a similar vein to fellow fiction South American island Val Verde. He is built up to be the main antagonist of The Expendables until it is revealed that he is in fact a more benevolent and honorable man than he appears, although deeply flawed, and under the control of more ruthless and dangerous people. He is played by David Zayas.

Biography

While Garza appears to be the ruler of Vilena, he is in fact a puppet on the payroll of rogue CIA agent James Munroe and his minions Dan Paine and The Brit, who lord over Garza and frequently bully him in the presence of his own men. It is also obvious that Garza despises Munroe and his methods.

Garza's loyalty to Munroe is brought under question when Barney Ross and Lee Christmas, two mercenaries hired by Mr. Church manage to get into Vilena and escape with help from Garza's daughter, Sandra. While Ross and Christmas believe they are on a mission to assassinate Garza, Munroe believes that Sandra hired them to kill him, his men and Garza. Munroe subsequently imprisons Sandra, provoking Garza even further. For his part, Garza becomes enraged at Sandra for not leaving Vilena with Ross and Christmas, since she would have been safer in America.

When the Expendables return to Vilena to rescue Sandra, Garza believes that Munroe hired them to kill him. Garza has his men prepare for battle against the mercenaries and orders Munroe to bring Sandra to him. A shootout soon ensues between Garza's men and the Expendables, finally pushing Garza far enough to rebel against Munroe: he gives Munroe a bag full of money and orders him out of Vilena on the threat of death. When Munroe refuses to leave, Garza holds out a sword and threatens Munroe. He tearfully apologizes to his daughter and men for succumbing to greed, and rallies his men against the "American disease" that has poisoned their nation for so long (although the Expendables overhear this and believe Garza is referring to them, though he is actually referring to Munroe and his men), but during his speech, he is fatally shot by Munroe, much to Sandra's shock. A dying Garza then falls over a balcony to his death. Several of Garza's bodyguards witnessed this and attempts to murder Munroe and his men, but they too fall victim to Munroe's bullets.

Homage

General Garza is reminiscent of several antagonistic Latin American dictators depicted in several action films from the 1980s and early 1990s, such as Arius from Commando and Ramon Esperanza from Die Hard 2, both of whom are the dictators of Val Verde and have been stripped of their positions due to unjust interference from the United States (Arius was overthrown for refusing to become a U.S. puppet while Esperanza was abducted from his home country to stand trial in America, a ploy for America to gain control of Val Verde), yet both are still portrayed as villains while the American bullies are the heroes.

The case of Garza, however, is radically different due to the fact that it is obvious from the start that Garza is an unwilling pawn of rogue Americans, and ultimately lays down his life for the sake of his nation and daughter, while several Americans are portrayed as brutal and merciless villains.

It is widely rumored that Sylvester Stallone was nominated for the Razzie Award for Worst Director for his unflattering portrayal of American influence in South America.

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