Assassination of Ernesto Curbelo

* Free Venezuelan People's Army
* Corvus

> "*You should have thought of this before you killed my dad.*"
> ― Edward to Ernesto Curbelo before stabbing him to death the same way Ernesto stabbed his father Bill to death
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The **Assassination of Ernesto Curbelo**was an act of vigilante justice against The Eternals that targeted Ernesto Curbelo, AKA La Plaga, a hitman in The Eternals, as retribution for the slaying of Bill Maglio, Edward's father.

## Background

During a previous run-in with Ernesto Curbelo, one of the most feared hitmen in The Eternals, Edward Maglio and his father Bill took on his henchmen. At around the same time, Task Force Anubis was also on to him, having also been tasked with killing him.

During a brutal fist-fight, Ernesto stabbed Bill to death, leading his children to vow to kill him themselves.

## The Assassination

Ernesto Curbelo was tracked to a hacienda in the Venezuelan town of Valencia, where he was also found to be keepting Marsha Maglio captive. A bloodthirsty Edward and his siblings scouted out his residence before calling in anti-government rebels to aid in their attack.

Meanwhile, Corvus, having learned that Ernesto was also a key player behind the death of his wife, was also scouting out Ernesto's residence and infiltrated the residence to kill him. Both the Maglio family and Corvus encountered enemy guards and fought their way through Ernesto's hacienda before both parties encountered Ernesto fleeing in an armored SUV through an underground tunnel.

The Righteous Crusaders and Corvus pursued Ernesto through the tunnels. In the resulting chase, Corvus disabled Ernesto's vehicle by running him off the road after emerging on the surface and off a cliff. The injured Ernesto climbed out of his battered vehicle, where he saw Edward and his buddies waiting. Ernesto and Edward had a brief staredown before Corvus charged Ernesto out of nowhere and engaged in a hand-to-hand fight with him; though Corvus was able to momentarily maintain the upper hand in the brawl, Ernesto eventually overpowered him much like he did with Bill.

Not wanting another friend to die at Ernesto's hands, Edward beat Ernesto down and then killed him by stabbing him to death with Bill's wrist knife in front of Corvus and Marsha, similar to how Ernesto stabbed Bill to death in front of Edward.

## Aftermath

The death of Ernesto was a huge shock to El Toro, who saw Ernesto as a brother. It also further cemented his vendetta against the United States as a whole, having perceived Edward as an "American lackey" who had ties to the United States government (which is actually true, since Edward's father was former military and his uncle Barry is an FBI agent).

Edward's successful killing of Ernesto also did something nobody else was able to do for years: strike fear in the hearts of the supposed most fearless cartel. The killing of Ernesto also cemented the Righteous Crusaders as a legitimate opponent to the cartel and it led to El Toro officially declaring war on Edward's family (which had already declared war on El Toro earlier, except El Toro was unaware of it until his men started dying).

The killing of Ernesto also marked the beginning of a partnership between the Maglio family and Corvus, who began to see Edward no longer as "just a kid", but a strong willed warrior. By killing Ernesto, Edward earned Corvus' respect, and his trust as well, with Corvus seeing a bit of himself in Edward.