- This chapter picks up just a little bit after where the last one left off (which is actually pretty unusual in this scattered book!), with Ribiera settling into life as dictator after some military struggles.
- Looks like we're going to dig into this period in Costaguana in a more extended way. Phew. We were getting whiplash from all our rigorous time-travel.
- General Montero had been instrumental in securing victory for Ribiera. However, almost immediately after Ribiera rose to power, Montero emerged as a threat to him—which was reaaaaally tricky politically, since Montero was a super popular war hero at that point (and so not easy to quash).
- Six months after the President and Montero visited Sulaco together, news reached Sulaco that Montero (with assistance from his brother, Pedrito) had brought over a military coup in "the name of national honour." In Montero's view, Ribiera had sold this honor to foreigners.
- The narrator then offers details about how Sulaco, which was physically removed from the violence, fared during the war.
- We learn that a bandit named Hernández had volunteered to help serve Don Vincente (and bring in his followers to do the same) in exchange for a pardon for his previous crimes. There is no mention of whether the offer was refused or accepted.
- We then hear about when troops embarked for war from Sulaco, and we meet Avellanos's daughter, Antonia, who was sitting in Mrs. Gould's carriage to watch the departure.
- We then get some details about Antonia. Apparently, she's quite the smarty-pants, and a beauty to boot.