A Man of Principle 1984

Leon Maria Lozano is a humble worker and a dedicated member of the Colombian Conservative Party living in Tulua, a town haunted by a political climate in which Liberals still hold sway after the tightly contested 1946 election. He faces widespread discrimination from the general public, with a few exceptions led by Dona Gertrudis Potes and a small circle of liberal allies. The era is one of tension, where political violence is almost a daily threat and accusations of extremism—liberal charges of conservatism as Masonic and atheistic—color every conversation about power and loyalty.

In a small paper-thin town, Lozano’s social standing improves only through chance mercy: hisBookseller days feel bleak until Dona Gertrudis Potes persuades the mayor to hire him as a cheese seller in the bustling market square. His rise is not built on merit alone but on the fragile patronage of a liberal patroness who believes in him, a glimmer of hope in a landscape where friendship across lines is rare.

Election day arrives with a surprise twist: the Conservative Party wins, overturning the prior balance of power. Miss Gertrudis remains cautiously hopeful, while many in the town fear that the victory could be only a temporary flicker in a long, dangerous darkness. As the nation’s politics tilt, two years pass and the assassination of the popular Liberal leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitán shocks the country. The village church and liberal institutions tremble with fear of reprisal, and Lozano senses an opportunity to protect conservative interests through action.

Lozano and other militants gear up, arming themselves and taking to the streets to keep watch. That night, he uses dynamite to deter protesters intent on burning the church, a moment that propels him from a local figure to a symbol of the conservative crusade in the eyes of many townsfolk. The following day, Gertrudis and the liberals are stunned to see him celebrated as a hero of the conservative cause. Seizing the moment, Lozano begins to capitalize on his notoriety, climbing higher in influence and earning the steady support of the party in the capital.

By 1950, the political tides have turned: Liberals are no longer in power, a Liberal mayor is replaced by a conservative, and Lozano evolves into an assassin who uses fear to consolidate control. His supporters become a feared cadre known as The Birds, and a ruthless campaign of murders and intimidation sweeps through the town. Gertrudis grows increasingly anxious for her own safety as the body count climbs.

One of the early strikes targets the local jail, a move to free imprisoned conservatives and swell Lozano’s private force. The mayor, watching from his car, is frightened by the audacity of the operation, yet cannot stop the onslaught. The Conservatives pull Lozano deeper into the center of power, inviting him to Bogotá to receive their full backing and protection, while Lozano’s personal life takes a sharp turn: his daughter is enrolled in a prestigious boarding school, a sign of the stability the regime hopes to project.

Conversations in Tulua intensify as the Liberals warn that the “Birds” might become a greater threat than any single opponent. In a pivotal moment, Gertrudis sums up the peril with a prophetic phrase, which becomes Lozano’s infamous alias:

Pues si la amenaza son los pájaros, a lo que nos enfrentamos es a un cóndor.

From that point, Leon Maria Lozano earns the nickname of The Condor, a symbol of calculated power and ruthless reach. The violence escalates as a journalist who criticizes the regime is shot by a member of the Birds, and Lozano himself faces a poisoning attempt—cheese fritter laced with danger. The town exults in a night of celebration outside his home, until the Condor survives and orders the musicians who performed to be killed, leaving the funeral without a single attendee out of fear of becoming the next target.

With absolute power in his hands, Lozano’s paranoia grows. He imagines himself pursued by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a chilling reminder of the fragility of his grip on authority. The brutality reaches a new low with a massacre in Recreo, where women are raped and killed; Lozano is not directly implicated in the atrocity, but the climate of fear surrounding him intensifies, and even conservative supporters begin to question his methods as the country’s political landscape shifts again.

As President Gustavo Rojas Pinilla loses power, Lozano’s protective shield dissolves, and committees move to end the violence that has defined his reign. The Conservative Party decides Lozano needs to be moved for his own safety, sending him to Pereira with promises of a pension. Yet even there, the Four Horsemen return to haunt him, and the Condor finally falls to an assassin’s bullet—dying in the street, surrounded by strangers, a symbol of a brutal era that left a long shadow over Tulua and the nation.