In Mexico City's infamous Lecumberri prison, three drug-addicted convicts celebrate getting drugs from one of their the mothers. They are found out and locked up in the "apando," the dreaded punishment cell. Protests over the treatment of those held in the cell lead to a bloody confrontation.

A guerrilla commando tries to kidnap a politician. In the attempt, several policemen and a guerrillero die. By chance the head of the kidnappers meets an old colleague; to prevent him from betraying them, he kidnaps him.

Chronicle of the repression that a foreign company exerts on the miners of a small nitrate town in Chile, whose workers decide to claim their most essential rights. A reflection of the historic union struggles in the northern Chile that ended with terrible repressive acts.