Chico

Chico was a child soldier of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), operating in Costa Rica in the early 1970s. He was the younger brother of Amanda Valenciano Libre. Because the Sandinistas had a hard time finding enough food in the jungle, he suffered from malnourishment, which made him shorter than kids of his age.

Early life
During the Somoza regime, Chico and his sister, along with their FSLN unit led by their father, were forced to flee from Somoza's National Guard into Costa Rica by crossing the Rio San Juan. Amanda didn't intend to take him with, but he didn't have anyone else to look after him, and he also wanted to join his dad's revolution. His unit attempted to keep him out of the fact that his fellow troops and his sister, in order to amass funds for weapons, food, and their "compas", had to resort to drug trafficking using a drug purifying plant owned by the KGB with a banana factory as a front, as well as using a route encompassed of bringing a barge in the marshes from the port to a train station, then offloading the cargo into a train to the banana plant, then taking another train to the coffee plant, and then loading it by truck to the United States to sell the drugs for their revolution.

However, he deduced what they were actually doing. Whenever he got into an arguement with his sister, he often wandered around Costa Rica, which made him far more knowledgeable about territory than anyone else in the FSLN unit. In actuality, his "camping out" around the various areas were actually plans for him to burn down various parts of the plant. At one point when fighting Amanda, he left for Mt. Irazu and camped near the Irazu facility. He then bore witness to "El Basilisco."

The Peace Sentinels, shortly after invading Costa Rica, took over the FSLN's banana factory/drug purifying plant, forcing the FSLN to hide in their last remaining hideout, the boathouse. After Big Boss located the FSLN group and asked them about what was happening in Costa Rica with the secret force, Chico got into a fight with Amanda, and went over to the rest of the unit. When noticing Chrysalis come over, he tried to warn Amanda, although he had to do it twice as Amanda initially mistook his warning for exemplifying the fact that her unit only referred to her by her first name rather than Commandante. Despite their best efforts in keeping Chrysalis and its Kidnapper drones at bay, it still managed to capture Chico. Amanda was initially going to try and shoot him down (partially because of wanting to save him, and partially because she knew his being dead was better than his being tortured and being forced to sell out his compas), but Big Boss told her not to, as the height from the fall would most likely kill him.

Chico was then imprisoned and tortured by the Peace Sentinels, forcing him to reveal his compas. Big Boss managed to get to his cell, and asked Chico about the Peace Sentinels' cargo delivery route. Chico explained exactly how the cargo ws transported, and that he had witnessed Basilisk while out camping. He also admitted to having sold out his compas, wishing that he was dead. Big Boss then shot a photograph of Chico to "end his misery" and made him a new man, having him join the Militaires Sans Frontières, although under the condition that he wouldn't smoke until he was older. He then extracted Chico from the area via Fulton recovery, something that Chico expressed irritation and initially fear at.

Following his rescue, Chico requested that Big Boss do him a favor: If he encountered any prisoners of war that were originally from "El Frente," he rescue them while they were alive, both as amends for his talking under torture, and because they were his comrades. He also advised that Big Boss look out for UMAs. Chico also supplied intel to Big Boss about there being a barrier at Aldea de Los Despiertos, near his cell, that was both recent as well as vulnerable to C4 explosives, after Big Boss was forced to take down a T-72 tank that blocked the tunnel.

Afterwards, when Peace Walker arrived in Nicaragua, he expressed sorrow to Big Boss over the fate of The Boss's horse. He also, along with his sister, left MSF's Mother Base to regroup with the FSLN group. They then aided Big Boss at taking down Hot Coldman's U.S. missile base in Nicaragua, ironically also turning against their former ally, Vladimir Zadornov of the KGB, in the process. He also developed a particular hate for Zadornov afterwards, as whenever he escaped, he growled and shouted that the MSF had to get "that ugly Russian" back to Mother Base. His hatred was due to his belief that Zadornov tricked Paz Ortega Andrade.

When MSF's Metal Gear ZEKE was completed, and Paz attempted to sabotage it in an attempt to delay having to fight Big Boss, Chico stumbled on her act, and was unable to stop her due to her being armed. After Paz's defeat, he also felt overwhelming guilt over not being able to stop her.

Ground Zeroes
At an unspecified time period after these events, he ended up captured by a mysterious group named XOF, and were subsequently detained in Camp Omega, a facility located at the southernmost tip of Cuba, necessitating Big Boss to infiltrate the facility himself to rescue him, as well as Paz, whom the MSF had discovered of her survival and incarceration.

Personality and traits
Chico enjoyed smoking, though he was often denied the opportunity to do so due to his age. After asking Big Boss for a cigarette on one occasion, he was amazed when he was offered a cigar, shortly before Big Boss snatched it away, claiming it's "not for kids".

Chico was extremely fascinated with cryptozoology, especially the reptile parts of the study, as he believed dinosaurs still existed.

Chico once expressed interest in wanting to go to the Congo, partially due to wanting to see the Mokèlé-mbèmbé. He also expressed regret for not being able to help the Congo revolutionary movement succeed, due to it ending in failure.

Chico had a crush on Paz Andrade, once mentioning to Big Boss that he had a hard time speaking with her and that he froze up every time he tried.

Trivia

 * Chico and Amanda called their father "mi viejo" which is Spanish for "my old man."
 * One time, Big Boss allowed Chico to sell photos of Chrysalis posing UFO sightings under the belief that Chico wouldn't get far. However, Chico later convinced a magazine seller to publish an article about UFO sightings using this same photo. This indirectly resulted in the Prime Minister of Grenada Eric Gairy to request for the UN to establish an agency to study the UFO problem, especially after reports of cattle mutilations and abductions were being made throughout the Americas.
 * Chico told Big Boss that he once met an alien cat named Altargozo Elbakki Munyudar. He'd come to Earth from the Andromeda Galaxy to check out Earth's nuclear weapons.

Behind the scenes
Chico's Japanese voice actor is Kikuko Inoue, who previously voiced the Japanese versions of Rosemary in Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4, The Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3, and Sunny in Metal Gear Solid 4.

In both the post-mission Codec conversation upon being rescued from Aldea de los Despiertos, as well as his character quote in Mother Base's staff section, Chico cites his desire to become a hunter. Whether this was intended to reference the Monster Hunter franchise or not is unknown.

Occasionally, during Peace Walker 's Game Over sequence, Chico can be heard mimicking the accompanying theme with the word BAM!

Mother Base staff
"If you see any UMAs, you tell me, OK? Like ancient dinosaurs and rare monsters and stuff. When I grow up, I wanna be a hunter."

- Chico's character quote on Mother Base's staff menu.

Chico is a unique staff member at Mother Base, available after Snake rescues him at Aldea de los Despiertos. Unlike other unique staff members who can be placed among Mother Base staff (not counting Zadornov, who was placed in the Brig from the beginning of Chapter 5 to his demise at the end of Chapter 5, or Naked Snake/Big Boss, who is only accessible via missions and thus can't be placed on Mother Base), he doesn't have any skills. His job is "Child Soldier" ("Little Soldier" in the Japanese version). Despite this, however, he cannot be made playable in missions if placed onto the Combat Unit.



If the player calls Chico while wearing the Amanda uniform, he'll briefly mistake the player for Amanda.
 * Life: 4000
 * Psyche: 6000
 * GMP: 5315
 * Combat Unit: D
 * Shoot: C
 * Reload: C
 * Throw: D
 * Place: C
 * Walk Speed: D
 * Run Speed: C
 * Fight: C
 * Defense: D
 * R&D Team: D
 * Mess Hall Team: C
 * Medical Team: D
 * Intel Team: A