Reina is an old and lonely widow whose only companion is a little black dog called Rey. When the dog disappears, Reina begins to question her own existence. Suddenly, her old patrons (who had left Cuba twenty years ago) return to Miami to stay for a week and convince her to go with them. After spending some time together, Reina discovers that her usual, lonelier, life is better than anything else and decides to stay in Cuba.

1964, in the Escambray mountains: the area is infested with counter- revolutionary bands which are trying to spread terror among the population and re-establish contact with the US, CIA. The murder of a man led to a reprisal to wipe out the bandits.

Traces episodes in the lives of three Cuban women, each named Lucía, from three different historical periods: the 1890s, the 1930s, and the 1960s.

A theater director and script-writer falls for a female worker from the Havana docks, but his machismo, social and working conflicts, and the Cuban woman's condition interfere with their relationship.

Based on actual events, the film dramatizes the efforts of Cuban counterintelligence services in response to Operation Patty, a CIA plot to assassinate Raúl Castro.