 The novel is written in the third @-@ person with flashbacks to specific events in the life of Simón Bolívar , " the General " . It begins on May 8 , 1830 in Santa Fe de Bogotá . The General is preparing for his journey towards the port of Cartagena de <unk> , intending to leave Colombia for Europe . Following his resignation as President of Gran Colombia , the people of the lands he liberated have now turned against him , <unk> anti @-@ Bolívar graffiti and throwing waste at him . The General is anxious to move on , but has to remind the Vice @-@ President @-@ elect , General Domingo <unk> , that he has yet to receive a valid passport to leave the country . The General leaves Bogotá with the few officials still faithful to him , including his <unk> and aide @-@ de @-@ camp , José Palacios . At the end of the first chapter , the General is referred to by his full title , General Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios , for the only time in the novel . 
