Bolivia 1945. Timar, a young manager, arrives in the town of San Jacinto to take over the operation of La Sacova, an import-export company, and finds himself immersed in a community with an unruly population of Indians, Creoles and Europeans. Timar is staying in the Hotel Central, a seedy place frequented by all sorts of down-and-outers, people who have lost hope of ever rising above their current station. Two murders are committed in the hotel and everything points to Adela, the attractive wife of the hotel's owner. Looking to escape from San Jacinto, Adela seduces Timar and succeeds in getting Maria, one of the maids, accused of the crimes she herself committed. When Timar discovers the truth he is torn between his passion for Adela and allowing an innocent woman to be charged with murder.