Bonus Scene from Shadows of the Fathers: The Russian
- Crowley Clark
- Apr 28
- 4 min read
What follows is a bonus scene from my upcoming book, Shadows of the Fathers. The scene is from the perspective of a character who becomes central to the plot in Mexico. I don’t want to spoil too much before you read the excerpt, so I have a few notes for context after it.
Day 2 - Thursday
Mexico City
Victor Chernov
He drove alone east of Mexico City on the Autopista Mexico towards Puebla. Mexico City is home to over 22 million people and hosts over four million international visitors by air alone annually. It was for this reason, among others, that he and his rented black Volkswagen Jetta blended right in.
As he focused on keeping up with the chaotic traffic in the world's sixth-largest city, the man glanced at a billboard that made him smile. The third one he had seen since he arrived in the country, it read, “The Truth about the World is on RT.” This message was sponsored by the Russian Television Network, known in Mexico and other parts of Latin America as “RT Actualidad.” He smiled because this media outlet was a clever work of art created, funded, and run by his home country in the name of spreading the “truth” about the United States and its allies, the war in Ukraine, and other issues important to the Kremlin. He also smiled because he knew much of it was a lie.
The RT’s reporting was, in fact, one-sided, exclusively presenting the Russian narrative, refraining from criticizing Russia, and often manipulating information to cast the U.S. in a negative light and portray it as the primary, if not sole, cause of the world’s problems. Since the Ukrainian conflict started, Russia had engaged in a new Cold War, a genuine proxy war with the United States, and had intensified its efforts to sway public opinion in neighboring countries. The RT and affiliated companies run by Russia Segodnya, a conglomerate of Russian state media organizations, had recently suffered a significant setback after being banned by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and Alphabet, the owner of Google and YouTube. It was curious that some U.S. platforms did not ban them; luckily for Russia, its propaganda thrived in Latin America through those channels and additional means.
His travels left him jet-lagged, and he still had at least an hour’s drive left to reach Puebla. There was a time when he could have flown directly from Moscow to Mexico City, gone to the Russian embassy, and left from there to conduct his business with much less scrutiny. But Mexico was watching, and the United States maintained a significant CIA presence within Mexico, requiring him to employ extreme caution regarding surveillance. If anyone discovered where he came in from or who he really was, it could disrupt his plans.
He had flown from Moscow to Sao Paulo, Brazil, spent one day there, then flew on to Mexico City. For his purposes in Mexico, he had electronic and other documents indicating his country of origin was Germany, not Russia. The man’s name for his trip was Max Becker, chosen to be German while also having a friendly American ring to it.
His cover was an executive with the Volkswagen Group, on a trip to check in on manufacturing facilities in the region and meet with colleagues. There were several factories in Brazil and a large one in Puebla, about 75 miles southeast of Mexico City. Max knew many facts about the plants, including their sizes, the number of employees, their building names, the automobile models manufactured (like the Jetta he was driving), the number of vehicles produced, and even the impressive number of 2500 engines the sister Volkswagen factory in Silao, located west of Guadalajara, could produce in a single day.
He even had business cards and other records that would easily prove he was who he said he was, and he spoke German and Spanish like a native. The latter he spoke in the more formal dialect of the country of Spain, where the letters “c,” “z,” and “s” are pronounced with what he thought, also speaking English, to be lisp-y and effeminate, with the soft “th” sound. The man from Moscow still loved his native tongue best, but English was his second favorite.
In reality, Max Becker was Victor Chernov, an intelligence officer of the Russian SVR. The business conducted in Mexico was akin to that in Brazil, both comprising official Russian state affairs. That official business was at the behest of his younger brother, the recently named Russian Minister of Defense.
But Victor had a secret. Or a lie, was it? Maybe it was a lie, like those told by the Russian Television media propaganda machine. They weren’t all lies, though. He put the lies aside because he had important work to do.
Notes:
The history of Russia’s involvement in Mexico is fascinating, but I’ll focus on recent history.
Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) and military intelligence (GRU) have significantly expanded their presence in Mexico, transforming the country into a primary operational hub for targeting the United States. Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent expulsion of over 100 Russian intelligence officers from Europe, Moscow reassigned many of its most skilled agents to its embassy in Mexico City. As of last year, this "spy nest" has grown by 75% in diplomatic personnel, with dozens of operatives posing as diplomats or business professionals to exploit security gaps and monitor American interests from a safe haven. These efforts are bolstered by sophisticated recruitment campaigns, as seen in the high-profile case of Mexican scientist Hector Cabrera Fuentes, who was convicted of gathering information on U.S. government targets.
Beyond physical espionage, Russia has leveraged state-run media outlets like RT to spread anti-U.S. narratives and pro-Russian propaganda throughout Latin America, effectively manipulating regional public opinion. Despite receiving detailed intelligence from U.S. officials identifying over two dozen active agents within the country, the Mexican government has largely allowed these operatives to remain. By maintaining a strict policy of neutrality, Mexico has inadvertently provided a stable environment for Russian intelligence to continue its expansion and strategic operations against its northern neighbor.
What might happen if Russia and China worked together with a mega-cartel with the goal of disrupting the United States? Shadows of the Fathers explores that very question. Stay tuned, and stay alert.
CC
