Bill Stechner, formerly known as Mr. Green, was an American CIA operative who supplied weapons to various rebel groups around the world, particularly in Latin America. He was appointed as the CIA Station Chief in Colombia in 1992. He is based on the C.I.A corrupt agent Felix Ismael Rodriguez.
Biography[]
Stechner in Mexico, circa early 1980s.
Hailing from Oregon, Stechner joined the CIA and trained various right-wing forces across Latin America at the School of the Americas, where he was known as Mr. Green. By the early 1980s, worked closely with the Mexican government and the Mexican intelligence agency, DFS to smuggle American weaponry to the Contras in Nicaragua.
At the request of DFS Director-General Salvador Osuna Nava, Stechner accompanied Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and Amado Carrillo Fuentes on a shipment to Nicaragua, and was advised to wait on as the two Mexicans were tortured as per Osuna Nava's orders. After rescuing them a few hours later, Stechner informs Félix Gallardo about the closure of the Caribbean route used by cocaine traffickers, and subtly hints Félix Gallardo to get into the cocaine business.
One of Juan Matta-Ballesteros' planes carrying American weapons for the Contras crashed en route in the l980s, triggering a crisis in Washington. Félix Gallardo, who used his drug money to fund the weapon smuggling operations, requested a meeting with Stechner. Stechner attempted to use the opportunity to hand Félix over to the DEA, who were looking for him for the murder of one of their agents in 1985, dragging media attention away from the scandal. However, he is taken aback by Félix Gallardo's plan of using Amado Carrillo Fuentes' aerial network to smuggle weapons for the CIA in exchange for the CIA providing protection to the Guadalajara cartel by forcing the DEA to end Operation Leyenda after Rubén Zuno Arce's arrest. In addition, Félix gave away the location of Matta so that the CIA could arrest him and save face during the Iran-Contra scandal.
Stechner is later sent to serve the CIA's interests during the Soviet-Afghan War, where he supplies weapons to the Mujahideen. In 1992, US President George H.W. Bush appointed Stechner as the CIA Station Chief in Colombia. There, Stechner was tasked with supplying weapons to right-wing paramilitaries to fight communist guerrillas. He supplied weapons to the AUC, led by Carlos Castaño Gil. After drug lord Pablo Escobar escaped from prison, Stechner convinced the Castaños to leave the jungles and fight the Medellín cartel instead, as the CIA did not want the left-wing guerrillas to take over the drug trade following Escobar's impending death. Castaño would eventually partner with the Cali cartel to create the Los Pepes vigilante group in order to hunt Escobar down. In order to distance the CIA from the vigilantes, Stechner had Diego Murillo Bejarano send exiled Los Pepes leader Judy Moncada to Miami for protection, where she was forced to blame the rise of the Los Pepes on the DEA agent Javier Peña. He also had Claudia Messina forcibly transferred back to the United States after she wanted to go after the Cali cartel. The blow back from Moncada's interview led to Peña being recalled back to the United States.
In 1994, after Escobar's death, Stechner signed off Peña's return to Colombia. The Cali cartel were negotiating a surrender deal with the government of Ernesto Samper, and the deal had the backing of the US State Department. Stechner wanted Peña back to bring legitimacy to the surrender deal, and warned him to not go after Cali cartel. Later, Stechner had Captain Gilbert Mills set up a fake drug lab in the jungle, as to show two visiting US Senators that the FARC took up drug trafficking after the fall of Escobar. The Senators believed the ruse, and agreed to allocate more money to the CIA to combat the guerrillas. Peña disregarded Stechner's warnings after the Yumbo gas incident, and with help from the Search Bloc, had Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela arrest. The surrender deal finally fell apart after the Search Bloc arrested Gilberto's brother Miguel, and the remaining two cartel leaders surrendered to General Rosso José Serrano. With the help of journalist Carolina Álvarez, Peña discovered that Samper was bought by the cartel and informed it to Ambassador Arthur Crosby. The ambassador told Peña that he was aware of Samper's links to the cartel, but as Samper had the support of the US government, he was allowed to keep is job. Stechner met a dejected Peña and told him that about his earlier warnings to stay away from the cartel. Peña violated orders from the ambassador and gave an interview with Carolina, where he revealed Samper's links to the cartel, triggering a political scandal in the country.
Trivia[]
A picture of a young Felix Ismael Rodriguez, C.I.A Agent involved in the entity's Latino American "operations".
Bill Stechner is based on Felix Ismael Rodriguez : a retired C.I.A agent who used to provide guns for Nicaragua's contras with the help of Caro Quintero's & Gallardo's airports, and as a counterpart, Felix used to take the drugs of them from Mexico to USA, using American militar flights, that did not require United States customs control and coke made it safe & clear for being sold on the States, the same role as Stechner in "Narcos: Mexico".
Another reference is that Rodriguez is part of the "Anti-Communist Legion del Caribe", a group who tries to fight communism in Latino/Center America "from one way or another"; In "Narcos" season 2, we can see that "Mr. Green" provides tons of guns for Carlos Castaño, leader of "Las Autodefensas", a paramilitar organization which fights against communism in Colombia from "one way or another", the majority being armed confrontations with guerrillas of leftist ideology , a true bussisness opportunity for the C.I.A & their plan for eradicate communism of Colombia. This same role was played by Felix in "El Salvador" between 1985 and 1988, against "leftist" guerrillas there, providing from guns to "choppers" to salvadoran right wing forces.
Also, Felix used to be in a lot of "operations" of the C.I.A in Latino America, just like the character of Bill did it on "Narcos" & "Narcos: Mexico" ; he was kinda the "black hand of C.I.A".