During the so-called Conquest of the Desert, Major Sarabia is sent to the Cruz del Sur fort to replace Major Molina, who was murdered at the hands of the Indians. He is the only one who can stop Santiago, "the most rebellious of the caciques of the southern border, the only one who does not accept peace with the government."

Based on a quechua legend, Malambo tells the story of a woman who lost her husband and son because of the greedy patrón of an hacienda. She swore that she would never remove the cloth over her eyes until her dead were avenged by the deaths of the patrón and his daughter. Nature seems to be on her side, since a drought has afflicted the land. Her other son, Malambo, accepts the duty of revenge. Malambo is no normal human: he is the runa-uturungo, or Hombre Tigre, of Quechua lore, and he cannot be wounded by bullets. He leads the obreros to rise in revolt and defeats the patrón. However, instead of killing the patrón's daughter--the blind Urpila --he falls in love with her, thereby breaking his mother's heart.

A bandit is accused of killing a young man who was actually killed by his girlfriend's stepfather who was in love with her.