5. Luisa Fortuna
Luisa Fortuna is a rebel who openly opposes Colonel Allende and is willing to suffer or die for the revolution. When John meets Luisa, the two have conflicting opinions on the revolution. She is young and has a fiery passion for revolution, in contrast to John's feelings on the concept, which is captured when Luisa labels John as "a man who has lost his soul", he has lost his passion for fighting for a cause and Luisa cannot comprehend why. One can understand her view, she lives under a tyrannical Colonel and witnesses other peasants being massacred and young vulnerable women being raped. To merely sit back and ignore it all could be called cowardice and Luisa is nothing if not extremely brave. Unfortunately Luisa's characteristics are also her downfall: she is an innocent young girl who honestly believes that Reyes will make her province the 'New Paradise' it was intended to be. John attempts to convince her that "as long as there are guns and money there won't be any freedom," but she still fails to understand how he can be so pessimistic. John is a man who has fought for a cause like Luisa, but he has endured the crushing realisation at how lost and empty that cause was, whereas Luisa has not. She has much potential but she places all her hopes on Reyes, honestly believing that he loves her and that he will craft a just and free Mexico. Ultimately, Luisa sacrifices herself for Reyes, the man who cannot even recall her very name and only valued her for sexual pleasure. What makes her death even more tragic is that all she suffered and died for was not worth it, as Reyes ends up being as worse a dictator as the one he overthrows. Luisa is left another forgotten soul of conflict.