First published in the newspaper Claridad on December 23, 1983, the story gives a fictionalized account of the 1898 U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico.
The residents of Seva fought back, causing heavy casualties among the Americans and prompting General Miles, ashamed and enraged, to bomb the town continuously for three months.
After his troops' successful Guánica-based invasion, Miles ordered Seva's remaining residents killed, the city's ruins paved over with Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, and the area's name changed to Ceiba.
Cabañas collects evidence of these events, including a taped interview with Martínez, now an adult.
Upon its publication, readers who mistook the story for truth demanded that the government investigate the events and that Dr. Cabañas be located.