Captain María Esperanza di Alma LaGuerta is a fictional character portrayed by Lauren Vélez in the Showtime television series Dexter. In the series, she holds the position of lieutenant at the fictitious Miami-Metro Homicide Department. While initially depicted as a protagonist, Maria LaGuerta, who serves as the superior officer to main characters Dexter and Debra Morgan, evolves into one of the primary antagonists by Season 7.

Luna Lauren Vélez is an American actress and the identical twin sister of actress Lorraine Vélez. Her most notable television roles are as María LaGuerta on Showtime's Dexter, Detective Nina Moreno on Fox's New York Undercover, Dr. Gloria Nathan on HBO's prison drama Oz, and Elena on ABC's comedy-drama Ugly Betty. She also starred as Rio Morales in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).