Epifaño Vargas

**Epifanio Vargas** is one of the main antagonists of *Queen of the South.* He was the governor of Sinaloa and the don of the Vargas cartel. He serves as the main antagonist of season 1, one of the main antagonists (alongside Alberto Cortez ) in season 2, and the posthumous overarching antagonist of season 3. He is also a posthumous antagonist in subsequent seasons.

## Background

His parents were farmers that were hanged by "The Crocodile" failing to pay their cartel protection money. He murdered the Crocodile in revenge.

He started a small, local produce company and turned it into a thriving international export business1x11.

He was married to Camila for over 25 years and they had a daughter named Isabela.

He was the leader of a Mexican drug Cartel, the Vargas Cartel.

Later, he became the governor of Sinaloa.

## Personality

Camila calls him charming. He is a cartel don and a governor, so is influential. He thinks of himself as principled, as he believes a governor should be1x02.

## Relationships

Alberto Cortez: Colonel Cortez was always a bit insistent and infringing on his space. Epifanio didn't like Cortez but he was necessary to his role as governor.

Cesar: Cesar was Epifanio's right hand man. Epifanio planned to turn the business largely over to Batman's control in order to distance himself from it, and later attack Batman as the "leader" of the Vargas cartel in Sinaloa. Epifanio later eats a taco made of Batman's flesh as offered by Cortez.

Camila Vargas: Although he offers Camila a divorce, which she initially rejects, he seems to still be in love with her. After suffering a heart attack, Camila comes to visit him in the hospital and he said, "*When I lost you, I thought my heart would break. Perhaps it finally has."* Their relationship is strained and they hate each other twice as much as they love each other, but when it comes to their daughter, they are united. Epifanio never orders for anyone to physically hurt Camila. He breaks her out of jail after Isabela is kidnapped and later dies by her side.

Isabela Vargas: Isabela looks up to her father and is proud of him for leaving behind the cartel business, as he has told her he has. She is hurt when he is accused of being a cartel leader at the wedding and when she sees his secretary leave his bedroom adjusting her clothes. Isabela visits her mom to tell her that Epifanio is cheating on her and asks her to come home. When Isabela is kidnapped, Epifanio ignores his problems with Camila and has her broken out of jail so that they can recover Isabela together. When Epifanio dies on the runway, Isabela runs out of the airplane and weeps over his body. She is very bitter over his death and encourages Camila to hunt Teresa down and kill her. However, when given the chance to kill Teresa herself, she doesn't take it.

El Santo: Epifanio was terrified of him. Back in '95, he did a deal with Igor, the Russian, for a shipment and he didn't realize El Santo was involved. The crate was seized and when Epifanio didn't want to pay for it, he came home and found his entire house staff strung up like wet laundry. Epifanio ended up paying for the lost shipment2x05.

Teresa Mendoza: Upon their first meeting, Epifanio was nice to Teresa because she was his godson Guero's girlfriend. After Guero's death, Teresa tried to exchange the book for her life, however Epifanio didn't go along with this. This caused for her to leave him behind after the car flipped, for this he swore revenge. He had men looking for her everywhere -- California, Florida, Arizona -- and was determined to bring her in. He spends much of season one searching for her and trying to retrieve her from Camila. Teresa later shoots and kills Epifanio in front of his family.

## Trivia

* He says that his relationship with Camila always worked because he always let her lead.
* He wins the governorship in 1x13.

## Quotes

1. Let me be clear -- I'm no politician. Like most of you, I come from nothing. And I know what it means to be powerless. My campaign is about restoring the power to you, the people of Mexico, and take it out of the hands of the thugs that are destroying the very fabric of our society and robbing our children's future. And we all know what I'm talking about. Who I'm talking about.. the cartels. And if I'm elected in 2 weeks time, I promise I will track down every drug dealer I can and lock them up. I will find every stash house. -Epifañio in an interview
2. *This is your home. You're part of me. I've never been complete without you.* -Epifaño to Camila

## Gallery

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