In The Hijacking of Flight 601, Eusebio Borja hijacks a plane under the alias “Ulises”. Valentin Villafañe plays Eusebio.
Eusebio Borja does not have any family; he is an orphan. He grew up impoverished, dreaming of better days. However, he does have Toro, who is like a brother to him.
Eusebio and Toro travel around playing football for small clubs, hoping that they will catch the attention of bigger clubs.
Finally, they come to Colombia, where they meet Pacho, a man who leeches off talented football players.
Pacho gives them food and shelter, albeit terrible, and trains them with the intention of extorting them if they achieve success.
Eventually, Toro is asked to try out for one of the big clubs, becoming Eusebio’s hope for changing his life. However, they must pay Pacho first.
To pay Pacho, Eusebio sleeps with a man named Checho for money. At his house, he finds the manifesto written by Ulises Lima, and that is when he starts changing.
The influence of the manifesto
Reading the manifesto makes Eusebio think about the difference between the haves and the have-nots. He starts seeing how unfair the world is.
The manifesto teaches him to resist those who subjugate and force others into slavery from the day they are born. It tells him that every person must satisfy their hunger by any means necessary.
At the same time, Toro suffers a career-ending injury, which leads to Pacho kicking them out. He refuses to give them their passports until they pay him what they owe.
Eusebio seeks help from Checho, who claims to be with the Revolutionary People’s Front. With his help, they threaten Pacho and are able to retrieve their passports and belongings.
Checho then reveals to them that he plans to hijack a plane for money and to secure the release of political prisoners. He asks them to join him.
Despite their initial hesitation, Eusebio agrees, seeing it as an opportunity to earn enough money to escape poverty and return home as heroes. As always, Toro follows him.
Eusebio’s idea of revolution
Toro accidentally ends up killing Checho, but Eusebio does not let him wallow in guilt. Eusebio is willing to hijack the plane, with or without Checho.
The two take Checho’s weapons to execute his plan and bring about a revolution of their own. Eusebio takes up the name Ulises, poses as a revolutionary, and successfully hijacks the plane with Toro.
They take it to Aruba, only to find out that the government is unwilling to negotiate with them. However, Eusebio negotiates with Pirateque, who promises to pay $200,000.
When Eusebio and Toro hear that the government is planning a military intervention to stop the hijacking, Eusebio kills a man.
It is later revealed that he could not bring himself to take a life, so he shot a stray bullet and locked the man in a trapdoor to make it look like he had been killed.
Eusebio and Toro then receive $50,000 from Pirateque, and as their plans keep going awry, Toro convinces Eusebio to escape with the money they have already received.
However, their attempts to escape are also unsuccessful, resulting in Toro getting shot. Eusebio then decides to go to Antofagasta and end the hijack.
All this while, Eusebio had started developing a soft spot for Bárbara. He reveals his real name to her, and while talking to him, she comes to the realization that he did not kill anyone.
Bárbara persuades him to do the right thing and let her and Edie save the man who is still locked in the trapdoor. After that, Eusebio gets ready to surrender.
The fact that Eusebio lied to him makes Toro feel betrayed. He refuses to continue following Eusebio as he has done until now.
It is because of Toro’s threat to blow up the plane that the crew helps Eusebio and Toro escape with Wilches as a guarantee that the crew will not reveal their whereabouts to the police.
Eusebio parts ways with Toro, who goes home to his family. Eusebio lets Wilches go and moves to Brazil. He then contacts Bárbara and asks her to meet him.
Bárbara comes to Brazil to be with him, much to his surprise. Eusebio then starts a comfortable life with her. He is never caught by the police.
Also Read: Edilma “Edie” Pérez: The Hijacking of Flight 601 character explained