César Sanjur

A British spy is banished to Panama after having an affair with an ambassador's mistress. Once there he makes connection with a local tailor with a nefarious past and connections to all of the top political and gangster figures in Panama. The tailor also has a wife, who works for the Panamanian president and a huge debt. The mission is to learn what the President intends to do with the Canal.

Afro-Antillean workers hired for the construction of the Panama Canal are brought from their homes to work in conditions that were not those promised. They, the descendants of African slaves and domesticated from England, manage to raise their voices against American injustices.

The particular reality experienced by Panama for almost a century due to the military presence of United States in the former Canal Zone is narrated through unpublished materials and revealing interviews with many of the social and cultural personalities who left their imprints in this story. The life in "the zone", the identity of the "zonians", the events that led to the handover of the military bases and the administration to the Panamanians are part of a plot as complex as the story itself.