The Lonely Men’s Island

At the age of 20, Sánchez was sentenced for stealing from the famous Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Cartago, Costa Rica. Sánchez served 20 years of his 45-year sentence. He maintained his innocence despite brutal torture, and he fought for a declaration of innocence for 48 years. Finally, early on July 24, 1998, Costa Rica's Supreme Court granted it, declaring that his imprisonment had violated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Island of Lonely Men, in addition to being an exceptionally artistic work, constitutes one of the bravest accounts of a man in search of his freedom, despite humiliation and oppression.