Juanita Vasquez (Spanish: Juanita Vásquez) was Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald's childhood best friend. Though both Juanita and Pilar dreamt of love, Juanita also wanted wealth, too. As a young woman, Juanita became engaged to Carlos Alejandro Vasquez, a member of and the heir to the Vasquez drug cartel. Pilar worried for her friend, but Juanita insisted that Carlos wanted nothing to do with the family business and instead planned to become a lawyer. Juanita and Carlos were married and had a son and at least two daughters, while Pilar immigrated to the United States, married Martin Fitzgerald, and had two sons, Antonio and Luis.
Juanita and Pilar kept in touch, though Juanita never knew where in the United States Pilar was living, and Pilar visited Juanita in Mexico one January. While there, Pilar overheard Carlos on the phone on January 28, and discovered that he had, indeed, become the head of the cartel and had been lying to his wife. When Carlos realized that Pilar had overheard him, he raped her, and Pilar struck him in the head with a candlestick, killing him. Pilar called the police, hoping that they could stop the hit that Carlos had ordered; Juanita then returned home and found her husband's body. Pilar tried to tell Juanita what had happened, but Juanita would not listen. The police then arrived and opened fire on the estate, killing the entire Vasquez family, including Juanita's young children. Juanita was the only Vasquez to survive and was sent to prison; before she was taken away, she swore her revenge on Pilar.
After being released from prison, Juanita rose to the head of the cartel and became known for her incredibly ruthless persona. For years, Juanita sought for information on Pilar's whereabouts; finally, in the autumn of 2007, Juanita received a phone call from Rebecca Hotchkiss, but, due to the bad connection, Juanita only heard that Pilar was in New England. Juanita kicked up her search, eventually finding and murdering Pilar's sister and two nephews. Pilar's daughter, Theresa, traveled to Mexico in January 2008 to beg Juanita to end the vendetta, but Juanita captured Theresa and used her as bait to lure Pilar to Mexico. The two women escaped, however, and Juanita, who had no names to go on other than "Pilar Lopez" and "Theresa", hit another dead end. Later on, Juanita finally found out where Pilar lives. She and her henchman arrived in Harmony and Juanita went to Tabitha's house in disguise and asked Tabitha for details about the Lopez-Fitzgerald family. Under the alias "Amelia Hernandez," Juanita offered to buy Tabitha's house. Tabitha accepted because she was planning to leave Harmony, anyway, knowing the town was soon to be destroyed by supernatural forces.
On June 17, 2008, Juanita bumped into Pretty Crane at the hospital during an attempt to kill her and Luis' unborn baby, unexpectedly exposing Pretty's secret; she was not pregnant at all.
Juanita and her henchman learn of the quadruple wedding ceremony centered on the Lopez-Fitzgerald family, as well as Pilar's plan to flee Harmony immediately thereafter. They plant a powerful bomb in the basement of the church and plan to set it off during the wedding. On Monday, August 4, 2008, during the final week of the series' run, Theresa discovered the bomb and was confronted by Juanita. Juanita attempted to shoot Theresa, but the gun exploded in her hand. The wedding attendees soon arrived in the basement; Luis and Sam apprehended Juanita while Ethan defused the bomb.
Juanita has been portrayed by Jill Remez since November 12, 2007 until August 5, 2008.
Read more about this topic: Minor Passions Characters