The year is 1838. Valentín de Avellaneda has been forced into exile in Uruguay with his wife and son by the brutal Argentine dictator, General Juan Manuel de Rosas, who has denounced him as a "Unitarian savage". As the fugitive tries to reach a place of safety with his family upriver, Rosas orders his capture and arrest and he is brought back to Buenos Aires to stand trial as an enemy of the state . . .