Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard

After General Montero’s victory at Río Seco, the supporters of President Ribiera believe that the long-desired regeneration of Costaguana is finally imminent. The Five-Year Mandate fuels this hope, and Don José Avellanos feels renewed purpose. Warnings soon emerge, however, that the “brute” (106) Montero is planning an insurrection. Although Moraga cautions from Sta. Marta that the War Minister is dangerous, Ribiera is hesitant to act against a decorated military hero. Major reforms are underway, and Ribiera avoids any action that might unsettle opinion in the capital. Don José reluctantly accepts this caution.

Less than six months later Sulaco is stunned by news of a military revolt launched in the name of national honor. Montero denounces Ribiera for submitting to foreign debt claims. Though the uprising in the capital is suppressed after street fighting, Montero and his brother escape south to Entre-Montes, where they are welcomed enthusiastically. There, they begin organizing a rebel army and spreading propaganda. Monterist publications circulate even in isolated Sulaco, and emissaries spread threats against aristocrats across the region.

Communications deteriorate as Monterist forces besiege Cayta, cutting postal routes. Couriers stop crossing the mountains; even Bonifacio fails to return from Sta. Marta. Bandit activity intersects with politics when Hernández, the outlaw chief, rejects Montero’s offer of pardon and rank and instead petitions the Sulaco Assembly for permission to enlist his band in defense of the Five-Year Mandate. His appeal, written by a captive priest in “crabbed, illiterate handwriting” (108) reaches Don José and Mrs. Gould, who read it together. The petition argues that tyranny forced Hernández into criminality. Meanwhile, Sulaco sends its garrison south to fight. The departure is ceremonial and emotional, with troops embarked on OSN Company steamers under Nostromo’s direction and Captain Mitchell’s supervision. General Barrios promises swift victory and claims he is weary of military life. Charles Gould does not attend, remaining focused on maintaining uninterrupted silver production at the mine. He has organized native foremen and administrators, with Don Pepe governing the mining population, but the responsibility of the Gould Concession rests primarily on him.

Mrs. Gould, free from direct management of the mine, accompanies Don José and his daughter Antonia to the harbor. Don José, now chairman of a Patriotic Committee, has helped arm the Sulaco troops with modern rifles funded through elite contributions and foreign resources. Exhausted by years of struggle, he appears physically drained. Antonia, devoted and intellectually formidable, accompanies him closely. Known for her independence and learning, she defies local expectations of womanhood and is widely believed unlikely to marry, except perhaps to a foreigner, as Sulaco seems “on the point of being invaded by the world” (110).

During the departure of Sulaco’s troops, Antonia Avellanos notices a young man observing from a distance. She recognizes Martin Decoud, a Paris-educated Costaguanero recently returned from Europe. Decoud approaches the landau. Though dressed in French fashion, he is “a fair Spanish creole” (111) by origin. He is a cosmopolitan idler who has lived comfortably in Paris, studied law, written occasional journalism, and cultivated a tone of ironic detachment toward politics, especially those of his native country. In Europe, he has spoken of Costaguana as a tragic farce, mocking its revolutions and governments while acknowledging that President Ribiera’s movement may offer some practical improvement.

Despite his habitual cynicism, Decoud is unexpectedly drawn into Costaguanan affairs. At Don José Avellanos’s request and through a letter written by Antonia and signed by her father, he is appointed executive member of a secret committee responsible for procuring modern rifles for Sulaco’s troops. The operation is conducted without the knowledge of General Montero, still officially War Minister. Decoud reacts with irony and amusement, but carries out the task efficiently, surprising his sister with his seriousness. He oversees negotiations with arms dealers while the real purchase proceeds discreetly elsewhere. When the shipment is completed, he decides to accompany the arms to Sulaco, partly from curiosity and partly from a desire to see Antonia again.

Decoud arrives in Costaguana just as Montero’s revolution begins. His consignment of weapons reaches Sulaco in time to strengthen morale and resolve. He is publicly welcomed by leading families and privately embraced by Don José, who regards his arrival as an act of patriotic commitment. In the Avellanos household, Decoud is confronted with the emotional gravity of the political crisis and with Antonia herself, now a mature and commanding presence. Her calm, direct manner unsettles him, making it impossible for him to reveal his original intention to leave the country shortly. Under Don José’s pressure, Decoud abandons his travel plans and accepts another unexpected role as editor of a new provincial newspaper intended to counter Monterist propaganda. The paper, titled The Porvenir, begins publication three times a week from offices on the Plaza. Decoud assumes his position publicly as “the Journalist of Sulaco” (116), changing Decoud from ironic observer to active participant in the political struggle.

As editor of The Porvenir, Decoud attends the departure of General Barrios and the Sulaco troops. General Barrios addresses Mrs. Gould with rough gallantry, dismissing Montero as insignificant. Barrios has the reputation of a soldier of genuine courage and honesty. Despite eccentricities and alleged bad luck, he is trusted as a loyal defender of the Ribierist cause and admired by soldiers and townspeople alike. Barrios reassures nearby European engineers that they may continue building railways and telegraphs without fear, promising that Costaguana has wealth enough for all and to “put Montero in a cage” (120).

Interrupted by a staff officer, Barrios takes his leave as the troops complete their embarkation. Don José Avellanos struggles visibly under the strain of hope and anxiety, conserving his strength for future political efforts. Antonia remains outwardly calm while Decoud feigns detachment. Mrs. Gould suppresses her alarm at the dangerous realities surrounding her and reflects inwardly on her husband’s policy of silence on political matters, which she has learned to share. As the carriage departs, it stops at Giorgio Viola’s house. Mrs. Gould asks for water, and Decoud engages the old revolutionary, asking his opinion of events. Viola praises the troops’ discipline and equipment but recalls bitterly the harsher conditions of past struggles. He declares himself “for the people” (122), though he laments that they don’t know what they’re fighting for. Don José eagerly affirms confidence in the new rifles and in Decoud’s mission.

Young Scarfe, an English railway engineer, joins the group and speaks candidly about the danger Montero poses to the railway project, expressing hope that he will be defeated. His blunt materialism and casual tone unsettle the others. 

As the carriage continues, Decoud speaks bitterly of Costaguana’s historical failures and contradictions, contrasting Don José’s ideals with the crude realities of its defenders. Don José counters by outlining Barrios’s role in the military plan, regaining animation as he speaks. The carriage passes beneath the old city gateway. A locomotive suddenly shrieks past in the background, “like a fleeting vision” (125).