(2 of 2)
Man Without Sleep. Martinez still takes council with his "invisible legions," calls himself "the Autodidact" (self-taught), and gives frequent radio lectures on anything from "applied psychoanalysis" to sociology. He knows little about such subjects and speaks in what his detractors call "basic Spanish." But his undulating words have a certain hypnotic effect upon his simpler subjects. Some of them believe that he can make himself invisible and eavesdrop upon their secret, often rebellious thoughts. The President does not sleep well, paces the Palace at night or wanders around the heavily guarded grounds. Many Salvadorans believe that he is haunted by the ghosts of the thousands he has had killed.
On the roof of the presidential Palace (with a lot of machine guns) are innumerable bottles of water being turned into "medicine" by the sun. The color of the glass determines the specific purpose. When one of the President's associates falls sick, Martínez prescribes a suitable bottle, and the patient invariably reports a miraculous cure. Such reports persuaded the President to treat his 13-year-old son for acute appendicitis. Operated upon too late, he died.
Last week Dictator Martínez surmounted the worst crisis of his career. His people are cowed again. His official relations with the U.S. are cordial (he judiciously declared war on the Axis the day after Pearl Harbor). Still secure in his fortress-palace, he paces his bedroom through the night while gun crews keep watch on the roof and new-made ghosts glare in through the windows.