Chapters 12 - The Conspiracy and 13 - The Terror Summary

The Candidate is elected in a Marxist landslide and becomes the President. Trueba and many other conservatives in the government secretly conspire to control the economy in a process they refer to as "economic destabilization" (p. 387). They intend to make the President's policies appear to fail entirely by artificially manipulating available goods and so forth. Trueba also begins to buy massive quantities of food, ammunition, and firearms, which he has secretly stored in his basement. Unknown to Trueba, the inquisitive Alba bores a hole through the wall of the storage cellar and finds the cache and investigates. As the weeks go by, she steals large amounts of food and distributes it to the poor, making sure to close up the numerous crates she opens so they do not appear...