Carmen Guerra

Carmen "Chico" Guerra is a fictional character on the HBO series "Oz", played by Otto Sanchez.

Character overview

"Prisoner #96G522. Convicted June 4, 1996 - Murder in the first degree. Sentence: 53 years, up for parole in 17."

Imprisoned for throwing a midget off of a building, he acts as an enforcing Lieutenant in El Norte, the Latino gang in Oz, mainly to whomever is first in command. For most of the show, he has an ongoing feud with fellow Latino Miguel Alvarez.

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Guerra is one of the four Latinos let into the newly rebuilt Em City and spends most of the time following the orders of Miguel Alvarez, their default leader. He grows impatient with Alvarez throughout the season as Chico wants the Latinos to be more forceful in the drug trade. Miguel is sitting on the sideline of a war between the Italians, led by Peter Schibetta, and the Homeboys, led by Simon Adebisi, wondering who to work with. As the Homeboys gradually dominate the Italians, Adebisi refuses to be partners with Alvarez, as the latter refused to help in the takeover. Chico grows impatient after Adebisi disrespects Alvarez, who refuses to have the Latinos go to war against the Bikers. Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez, a legendary Latino inmate, arrives and takes charge. Guerra uses this opportunity to berate Alvarez, who has been cast out of the gang for being "too white." Alvarez then asks Hernandez what he has to do to get back in, and El Cid tells him to blind a new Latino CO, Eugene Rivera, who was once in a rival gang on the outside. Alvarez does as he's told, earning him Guerra's respect.

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A new inmate, Carlo Ricardo, arrives in Em City and joins El Cid. Unlike the rest of the gang, Guerra and Ricardo are both family men who have something to look forward to outside of prison. When Augustus Hill testifies against Malcolm Coyle for murdering an Italian American family, Muslim inmate Kareem Said asks Guerra to represent the Latinos in a four gang defense against the Homeboys who are seeking revenge led by Kenny Wangler. Guerra immediately buys into this as he has a family on the outside and can sympathize with what has happened in this murdering. Meanwhile, Alvarez is conditionally released from solitary and El Cid is still wary of Alvarez's commitment to El Norte. Guerra fuels the distrust frequently as he has not trusted Alvarez since El Cid arrived. The Latinos are then called to a meeting with Simon Adebisi who wants to move back into the drug business. He tells them that they can work with him and the Italians if they help him cripple the current Homeboys involved in the drug trade. Guerra is surprised that Adebisi wishes for violence against his own race but supports this decision fully as the Homeboys are currently their biggest threat in the drug business. With Adebisi's help, they burn but do not kill Homeboys Arnold "Poet" Jackson and Junior Pierce, the main bodyguards and enforcers for current Homeboy leader Kenny Wangler. Adebisi takes care of Wangler on his own as he is no match for Adebisi. The Latinos are now fully fledged in the drug trade but this becomes a problem when they rob Ryan O'Reilly. O'Reilly, angered at losing his drugs snitches on El Cid and Alvarez leaves two seconds early as the COs take Guerra, Hernandez, and Ricardo to the hole on drug possession. When released, Guerra and Ricardo attempt to kill Alvarez who kills Carlo in self defense. Oz is then locked down approaching New Years Eve as the racial tension has reached an all time high.

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Alvarez is in solitary and El Cid demands that Guerra set up the murder of him, but another inmate Louis Beviliqua requests permition to kill Alvarez instead, as he was related to Ricardo but he is stopped and killed. Guerra then commands Carlos Martinez to kill him in the hospital who is also unsuccessful as Miguel escapes Oz in a tunnel dug by Busmalis. Shortly afterwards, Hernandez is going mental and a new Latino inmate Enrique Morales is offered Hernandez's third in the drug trade from Italian leader Chucky Pancamo. Morales has the elderly Bob Rebadow kill Hernandez and ends up running El Norte. Overall, Morales is a smoother and more businessman type person who keeps the Latinos as a force in the drug trade. Things get even better in the drug trade when unit manager Tim McManus is fired and replaced by an African American unit manager named Martin Querns. Querns names Adebisi, Pancamo, and Morales trustees of Em City giving them unlimited drug dealing power as long as order is maintained by all three groups. Things go good for a while, but racial complications nevertheless arise. Querns is most partial to Adebisi and the Homeboys as they are Black like him as a result, Em City's prisoner and CO population becomes disproportionatly Black. This causes the Italians and Latinos to be freely cheated in the drug trade and also causes them to be transferred to Unit B. Later Adebisi is brought down and killed by Said.

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In this half of the season, the Italians and Latinos are running the drug business in full effect until the arrival of elderly Black inmate Burr Redding. Redding is a major threat to both Pancamo and Morales who causes a war to occur throughout this half of the season. Guerra in the meantime must deal with a Black junkie Omar White whom he gets into several conflicts with over this segment of the season. Alvarez is also let out of solitary after he is recaptured and Chico wishes to kill him as a result. Morales tells him to cool off though as he personally holds nothing against Alvarez. Jorge Vasquez then makes an unsuccessful attempt on Alvarez and dies as a result. The war between the Homeboys and against Omar White then escalates to the point that a Latino inmate dies along with supposed Latino/Italian ally Supreme Allah. Em City is then evacuated after a gas explosion in the kitchen burns the place down.

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Guerra is let back into Em City and then the solitary inmates are once again released. Intent on killing Alvarez, Chico is about to go through until Miguel offers him an unusual truce. Miguel states that he will allow Chico to stab him if they end the violence once and for all. Guerra then stabs him, but not in the shoulder as planned but closer to the heart as he wanted a free opportunity to kill Alvarez. Miguel realizes this and while he and Guerra come to a truce, he lets Chico know how dishonorably he acted. A young Latino inmate Jaime Velez is impressed by Alvarez taking a stab and tells Miguel he wishes to be his Lieutenant. Miguel says yes if he kills Guerra, and an attempt by Velez on Guerra backfires. In the meantime, the Italians are knocked in disarray by the Aryan Brotherhood over the death of Vernon Schillinger's son Hank and Burr Redding approaches Morales with a proposition. Redding claims that since the Italians are out of the loop for the time being, the Latinos and Homeboys should work together and run the drug business smoothly. Enrique says yes and for a while the Homeboys and Latinos have a good thing going. In the meantime, Ryan O'Reilly makes a deal with Morales to injur Glen Shupe while he arranges the death of Jia Kenmin. Guerra sees to it that O'Reilly fills his end of the bargain. Things get complicated though over the drugging of Augustus Hill. Poet supplied Hill with Heroin but is afraid to admit so for Redding will kill him if he finds out the truth. Poet approaches Guerra and tells him that Burr thinks he is responsible. The two of them come to the conclusion to scape goat the Italians and as a result, they coerce Busmalis, a witness with no vested interest to tell Redding that Italian inmate Salvatore DeSanto sold Augustus the drugs. DeSanto dies at dinner due to a toxic amount of LSD in his food courtesy of the Homeboys in the kitchen. Hill though states to Tim McManus that the Italians are innocent and as a result, Poet turns the tables on Guerra as he is looking for someone else to blame for the drugging of Hill. After hearing another lie from Busmalis at the hands of Poet, Redding angrily accuses Guerra to Morales and a fight breaks out ending the alliance between the two groups. When released from the hole, Enrique and Guerra approach Frank Urbano and the Italians. Morales states that they are sorry for allying with a Nigger like Redding and wish to be partners again. Urbano says yes under a 60-40 deal where the Latinos are charged the 10%. Chico protests but Morales says yes under the condition that Redding dies. As Urbano makes an attempt on Redding, Augustus Hill rolls in the way and dies.

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The Latinos and Italians are in full control of the drug trade as Burr Redding is too distraught over the death of Augustus Hill to lead the Homeboys. Miguel Alvarez is then brought back into Em City where Chico is given a warning by Tim McManus. McManus points out that every discipline problem Miguel has had has somehow been tied to Guerra and that he will hold Chico responsible for any bad thing that happens to Miguel. Surprisingly, Chico decides he wants to be friends with Miguel again and the two of them get along for once. Morales is then taken down by a CO whom he caused an injury to and dies in the hospital alongside Carlos Martinez. Pancamo then asks Guerra who will lead El Norte and Chico says Alvarez is the best choice. Miguel refuses though as he wants to be paroled. Shortly afterwards, a gay nightclub owner Alonzo Torquemada comes to Oz with a pill form of Heroin and XTC called D-Tabs aka Destiny. These drugs are popular at gay nightclubs. Guerra takes some of these drugs while listening to Techno music and begins ripping off his own flesh under the influence and is sent to the infirmary.

References