José Antonio Rodríguez

The plot, set in Havana in the last period of Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship, follows a young girl whose aspirations to obtain a scholarship in America, against the odds, are paralleled with her reading of Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea".

The story of Cecilia is a story of the society that dominated 19th-century Cuba, a society divided between whites, blacks, and those who were mixed, the mulattos. (Since the Spanish conquistadors killed off the Indian population in Cuba not long after they took over the island, there are no mestizos, or those of mixed-Indian blood in Cuba as in other Caribbean nations.) At any rate, the drama about the life and loves of Cecilia (Daisy Granados) takes place against the backdrop of graphically violent mistreatment of slaves and the rumors of a slave rebellion after the Cubans hear of slaves turning against their captors in Haiti.

When the Revolution nationalizes the nickel processing plant in Moa, the Cuban technicians who were working with the Americans leave the country. An engineer manages to get it up and running.

1896. Cuba is at a critical juncture. Following the death of Antonio Maceo, one of its independence leaders, the island is torn between two positions: continuing the fight for independence or annexation to the United States. Spain, through its energetic generals, seeks to maintain its hegemony on the island. A difficult period in which, however, strange love stories also occur.

After a robbery at a bingo hall, Azucena, the girlfriend of one of the thieves, decides to seize the money for herself. On the run she stumbles upon Verónica, the manager of a nursing home that wants a cut in exchange of helping her to evade the criminals and the cops.

A doctor committed against the revolution decides to escape in a boat. A criminal friend introduced him to a modest revolutionary family to cover it up. During the events aspects of a society in transition are reflected.

The plot is situated in Cuba during the early '50s, before the cuban revolution. A prostitute gets in love with a boxer to whom she devotes her life. As the boxer progresses in his career, he gets money and women. The prostitute tries everything to keep him meanwhile her tortured soul sinks deeper and deeper.

A fugitive bursts into the home of two Catholic nuns. In an attempt to save his life, they hide him from the marauding military patrols, despite the danger they face if they are caught.