Juan Pablo Baro Rebolledo, aka General Baro, is the head of La Unidad in Bolivia. He served as a buchon in the Santa Cartel under security. He was located in Flor De Oro.
History[]
Born on October 21, 1951, Juan Pablo Baro Rebolledo grew up aware of the activities that different cartels, both foreign and domestic and the effects that it had on the country, during that time, he also met and became friends with El Yayo. Owing to Bolivia's primary harvest of coca, Rebellodo eventually joined the police force, hoping to suppress, or at the very least, minimize the activities of the cartels, and allow Bolivia to break free of its reliance on coca. Rising through the ranks rapidly, Rebolledo gained the respect from many of his colleagues and subordinates for his tough action on crime. Additionally, sometime during his career, Rebolledo got married and had a daughter, however, he eventually lost his wife resulting in a much closer relationship between father and daughter.
By the mid-2010s, Baro had risen to the rank of Major-General and during that period, the Santa Blanca Cartel had made their way into Bolivia, hoping to utilize its coca production to create a drug empire. With local police forces overwhelmed and civilian casualties increasing, the Bolivian government placed Baro in charge of the newly formed La Unidad. Hoping to rid the country of the Mexican gang, Unidad and the cartel went to war. However, corruption and incompetence had resulted in far higher Unidad and civilian casualties whilst Santa Blanca forces became even further entrenched within the different provinces. With public pressure mounting and unwilling to allow his country to be collapse, Baro covertly negotiated with El Sueño for an end to the conflict. Eventually, a deal was formed between the two sides. In exchange for authorities turning a blind eye, Santa Blanca would limit violence to a minimum.
Upon affirming the deal, the violence gradually ceased, however, Baro's willingness to negotiate with the Santa Blanca cartel opened the door that encouraged many junior officers to actively participate in the cartel's activities, often resulting in bribes to look the other way. Baro had similarly received major bribes from the cartel, often handling the logistics and strategy that allow the cartel to conduct their operations. His daughter however, remained unaware of his dealings, and concerns over her safety served as leverage for the cartel, hence he subtly ensured that she remained in the Flor De Oro, Unidad's stronghold in Bolivia. Additionally, having been questioned by his friend El Yayo, Baro justified his corruption, stating that he believed that addicts were weak-minded people and was willing to let the drugs wipe out the weak. He also noted that unless Santa Blanca's actions threatened Bolivia, he would not actively seek conflict with the group.
Despite his corruption however, there were elements within Unidad that opposed the corruption and the activities that the cartel conducted. Violent skirmishes between both factions occasionally occurred, however, most of the original treaty stood.
In July 2019, the United States conducted Operation Kingslayer in response to the bombing of their embassy in La Paz and kidnapping of a DEA Agent. In an effort to cripple the cartel's operation, the Ghost Recon Kingslayer Team was ordered to kidnap Baro's daughter. Initially protesting on moral grounds, the team nevertheless conducted the raid, capturing her as leverage. In response, Baro returned to the province, and made contact with the fireteam. Offering a meeting ground, Baro instead sent a squad of Unidad soldiers to ambush the team. Overcoming the opposition, Baro was captured by the team. Taken to their safehouse, Baro was interrogated by the team's case officer Karen Bowman and agreed to their demands and to contact several non-corrupt officers and a close friend within the Bolivian Army to begin investigations against the corrupt members of Unidad, and to take the fight against the Santa Blanca cartel.
Notes[]
According to his Kingslayer File, he is very unhappy with the security in Flor De Oro, especially around the area of M.O.B. Jaguar, he states that the rail lines are not safe for guaranteed resupply and cluster bases should be implemented in Flor De Oro. His only family left is his daughter, who he had not talked to since well before Operation: Kingslayer.