The Sacramento depicted in the novel seems to be an amalgam of various Latin American countries of the time, exhibiting the common problems of dictatorship, corruption, instability, inequality and pressures from the superpowers, specially the U.S., that are depicted in the novel as influencing directly through military incursions and economic pressures the political, economical and social state of Sacramento, mainly in order to benefit American multinational corporations in the country (references are made to "War is a Racket"). Sacramento exhibits also a resemblance to Cuba, specially by the end of the book, when a revolution, led by a messianic figure (that is actually a puppet controlled by a radical communist), overthrows an U.S. supported dictator.