Jesús Antonio Lopez Ramos/“Mendez” Character Analysis

The “pollero,” or smuggler, of the Wellton 26, Jesús was just nineteen at the time of the ordeal, and had been swept up in the “gangster” lifestyle of border smuggling by his close friend, Rodrigo Maradona. Jesús was identifiable by the “rooster-like” swoop of red-dyed hair which hung in front of his face. Though Jesús—who adopted the alias “Mendez” once he began working out of San Luis—saw himself as a badass, a revolutionary, and a Coyote, he was actually more on the level of the “pollos” he was charged with transporting through the desert. Though Mendez’s exact thoughts and motives will never be known because of his refusal to testify, it appears that he attempted to steal his pollos’ money and abandon them to die after becoming hopelessly lost in the wilds of the Cabeza Prieta.