Solitude and Today War Began

¶ … Solitude

And today war began yet again. After news reached us that General Victorio Medina had been condemned to death in Riohacha, I left with Captain Roque Carnicero and six other men and headed out to free the captive general. The route was treacherous, requiring us to cross mountains and through forest. I have a strange feeling of familiarity with our path, as if this may have been the same path that Jose Arcadio Buendia once followed on his way to founding the city of Macondo.

Unfortunately, by the time we reached the captive general, he had already been shot. On the spot, I was promoted to chief of the revolutionary forces of the entire Caribbean coast and was given the ranking of general. Embarrassed, and never one to be much for titles, I agreed to assume the position but not the promotion. My reasoning was that I would never accept the position until the Conservative regime was toppled from power.

Being committed to by position and duty to topple the conservative regime, I began the war at once. Within three months of my quasi-promotion, I had succeeded at arming over one thousand men dedicated to the liberal cause. However, after fierce and brave fighting, the majority of our ad-hoc army was wiped out and the survivors and myself were forced to retreat to the eastern front and to the small island of Cabo de la Vela.

As a propaganda measure, the conservative government spread an official proclamation announcing my death throughout the nation. But nobody believed this blatant lie when news spread of our triumphant uprising in the southern plains. It was all part of my plan, to fight the government with my own propaganda. To make myself into a mysterious hero, whose actual existence or mere fabrication was never known. I would be the hidden crusader, making appearances here, winning a battle there, and then disappearing until the next uprising. By one day I was victorious in Vilanueva, the next bitterly defeated in Guacamayal. I was eaten alive by Motilon Indians, only to be found dead a backwater village swamp and rising victorious again in Urumita. The result was is vast increase in my causes popularity and in the sizes of our military recruits.