Captain María Esperanza di Alma LaGuerta ( or ; ) portrayed by Lauren Vélez, is a fictional character who is the Lieutenant at the fictitious Miami-Metro Homicide Department in the Showtime television series Dexter. Despite being a protagonist for most of the series, Maria LaGuerta, (the superior officer of main characters Dexter and Debra Morgan) ultimately emerges as one of the story's main antagonists by Season 7. Character history Discussions between LaGuerta and Angel Batista in the first and fourth seasons give minor insight into LaGuerta's backstory. Her family is said to reside entirely in Cuba. She mentions being alone in a strange land, implying that she was sent to live in America on her own. Season one In the series' beginning, LaGuerta is introduced as a tough and ambitious woman more skilled in political gamesmanship than actual police work. She harbors an intense dislike for Dexter Morgan's sister Debra. At the end of the first season, her superior, Captain Tom Matthews, has her removed from command for her failure to capture the Ice Truck Killer. Season two Early in season two, LaGuerta continues to struggle with her demotion and annoyance with her replacement, Esmee Pascal. She resorts to sleeping with Pascal's fiancee, Bertrand, which quickly drives Pascal to paranoia and instability. Pascal's increasingly erratic behavior results in Matthews being forced to remove her and reinstate LaGuerta. When her friend, former partner, and former lover, James Doakes, becomes the prime suspect in the Bay Harbor Butcher case, she tries to clear his name. She learns from a questionable source of two Special Forces missions Doakes took part in that directly conflicted with the deaths of two Butcher victims. In the season finale, Doakes is found dead in a seemingly accidental explosion, along with drug dealer Jose Garza, and the case is closed. The evidence LaGuerta finds is ignored. After Doakes' death, LaGuerta asks police officers for donations to his memorial fund, refusing to think of her deceased friend as a serial killer. Season three In season three, as she recovers from the trauma of Doakes' death, LaGuerta leads an investigation into the murder of Oscar Prado, the brother of her ex-boyfriend, Assistant District Attorney Miguel Prado. She also develops a close relationship with defense attorney Ellen Wolf and is devastated when she is found murdered. Thanks to some personal investigative work, along with Dexter's input, she discovers that Miguel killed