Ricardo is released from jail, and Fico offers to help him go to Miami or New York City, but instead, he joins a rebel column headed by Che Guevara.

Fico is approached by Meyer Lansky, of New York's Genovese crime family, who wishes to open up a gambling room at El Trópico.

Fidel Castro declares there will be no elections, and Che Guevara oversees the arrests and summary execution of those who supported the Batista regime.

In a last effort to convince her to join him, Fico barges in on a reception for revolutionary leaders and Soviet Bloc ambassadors, but Aurora refuses to go.

Fico says goodbye to his parents and goes to the airport, where most of his money and possessions — including a prized family pocket watch from his father — are confiscated.

Working as a dishwasher and piano player at a Cuban club, he hopes to save enough money to bring his family to America.

Fico recites a poem by Cuban nationalist Father José Martí, and commits himself to returning to his "lost city" someday.

In one scene, Che Guevara (Jsu Garcia) is shown after an ambush casually shooting a wounded Batista soldier where he lies.

"[6] Michael Atkinson of The Village Voice critiqued the historical validity of the film, stating, "García's tale bemoans the loss of easy wealth for a precious few.

Poor people are absolutely absent; García and Infante seem to have thought that peasant revolutions happen for no particular reason—or at least no reason the moneyed 1 percent should have to worry about.

"[7] Stephen Holden of The New York Times described the political dialogue in the film as "strictly of the junior high school variety", while opining that the "characters pontificate in generalities and aphorisms", making them "little more than stick figures with cartoon balloons pasted over their heads".