The General in His Labyrinth

Urdaneta takes power on September 5. To legitimize the coup, he sends a delegation to Cartagena to offer the Presidency of the Republic to the General. Though the General is a "hopeless invalid" (201), Urdaneta warns him that "the most awful anarchy" (202) will break out if he does not accept the post. The General declines the presidency but offers his skills as a soldier to help the military suppress the oligarchs and powerful families under the direction of men like Santander. For 42 days, he waits for a response and begins to plot a military campaign to take back the country with "great precision" (206). He dispatches 2,000 men to Venezuela to begin the campaign and tells his men to find him a local house where he can recover his health and oversee events.

After arranging for the storage of the General's personal possessions, the entourage journeys back across the country. They reach Turbaco but then they are delayed by inclement weather. As they travel, the General becomes increasingly sick. He is forced to spend a month in the home of an old friend named Don Pedro Juan Visbal. After a long period of sickness and suffering, the General eventually agrees to see a doctor "on the condition that he not examine him or ask him questions about his pains or attempt to give him anything to drink" (214).