In an unnamed Latin American country after a coup d'état, a military junta comes to power. The army deployed to the streets, the civilian population is exposed to hard terror. A wave of arrests follows, some former senators - liberals and communists - are sent to prison. Some patriots that have gone underground try to figure a plan for their release. They buy a small shop opposite the prison in the name of Francisco and Maria Vardes. From its basement they plan to build a 90-meter tunnel. Three years of enormous effort, deaths and nervous breakdowns are not spent in vain.