The stories of a Panamanian officer who feels betrayed by his superiors, of a young man from the neighborhood trying to prevent his friends from going out to fight, of a fisherman going through a thousand adventures trying to bury his compadre, of an imprisoned American businessman for conspiring as a CIA agent against the dictatorship and an alcoholic prostitute who cannot escape her past ... all in the middle of the Christmas preparations, just as the US invasion of Panama begins.

The story follows the adventures of various characters in their desperate attempt to obtain a "visa" or the necessary means to accompany the team to the World Cup.