Diego Samaritano

Diego Samaritano is the captain of the New Fidelity, a practiced riverboat commander whose formal hospitality marks the beginning of the voyage shared by Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza. He supplies the evening with the authority of long experience and the ceremony of a shipboard welcome, even as Fermina remains absorbed in grief and uncertainty.

Identity and Bearing

Samaritano wears a white linen uniform, immaculate from his boots to his cap, where the insignia of the River Company of the Caribbean is embroidered in gold thread. His build is compared to the stoutness of a ceiba tree; his voice is peremptory, and his manners are likened to those of a Florentine cardinal. The description makes him at once commanding and ceremonious, a captain whose presence gives the shipboard proceedings a formal order.

Captain of the New Fidelity

On the evening of departure, Samaritano welcomes Dr. Urbino Daza, his wife, and Florentino Ariza with champagne and smoked salmon. He is named as Captain Diego Samaritano, and the passengers’ meal and departure unfold under his authority. His hospitality brings the guests into the ship’s ceremonial world before the voyage begins.

The departure does not follow the warning bell immediately. Although the final warning sounds at eight and visitors must leave as the gangplank is raised, the New Fidelity remains in port until Samaritano finishes eating and goes to the bridge to direct the operation. The delay establishes the captain’s control over the ship’s timetable: the vessel sails when he is ready to oversee it.

Stories and the Departure

At the first dinner aboard, Samaritano entertains the company with succulent tales drawn from his forty years on the river. His experience gives the river a human history just as the ship leaves the city behind. After the boat moves through invisible channels and past swamps lit by fishermen, it enters the open air of the Great Magdalena River; the band strikes up, passengers rush to dance, and the captain’s stories remain the evening’s counterpoint to the unsettled passage beyond the harbor.

Samaritano’s role is brief but structural: he welcomes the travelers, controls the departure, and gives voice to decades spent navigating the river. Against the assurance of his professional routine, Fermina Daza’s silence and sadness stand out. The captain can guide the ship into the river, but the emotional course of the voyage belongs to its passengers.