By 1825 the territory known as "Banda Oriental" is a no-man's land in constant dispute between the Brazilian empire, the Argentinian Confederation, the British empire and the local population formed by ranchers, the military, the "caudillo" leaders, foreign tradespeople, peaceful citizens and rebel gauchos that were enemies of the European establishment and abhorred salaried work.
This semi-feudal environment witnesses the rise of Juan Antonio Lavalleja (el Tony) and his pal Fructuoso Rivera (Frutos), former partners in heroic battles, now fierce enemies fighting for conflicting interests.
A series of events that are here told with humor, are mere transcriptions slightly modified from serious history books.
The relationship between these two evolves from friendship to hatred when Frutos positions himself as the first president of the young republic and leaves Tony claiming for revenge.