The Death of Artemio Cruz

In 1927, Cruz, now a congressman, finds himself in a room with a man who invites him to play a form of Russian roulette. When Cruz positions himself to fire a potentially suicidal shot, the man moves the gun out of his way, explaining that he was only trying to test Cruz’s willingness to die for his cause. The unnamed man explains that the world is divided between winners and losers, and the important thing is to ensure one is on the winning side. Such words represent the man’s intention of coercing Cruz to switch political sides.

Cruz and a friend of his, Capitán Jimenez, go to a locally famous brothel belonging to Saturno. Here, they meet with Colonel Gavilán as well as the man with whom Cruz spoke earlier in the chapter. The men hold a discussion in which they weigh the pros and cons of switching sides politically. The unnamed man announces that the priests are going to be shot tomorrow. After this discussion, Cruz meets an unnamed woman in the brothel who leads him to find a priest hiding in the basement.

The following day, Cruz receives a phone call informing him that the priest is at the police station for the purpose of being executed.