Decoud's line covers all layers of the dialogue. On the surface, it means that the parliamentarians are surrendering to Montero. As an answer to Antonia's question, it means that Don Jose has surrendered his ideal of a unified, regenerated Costaguana. On the allegorical level, it agrees that the parliamentarians have surrendered the moral meaning of the nation. But finally, it is the "fascinated" Decoud talking to himself about the light in her eyes, saying that Antonia has surrendered in his war to liberate her from Don Jose, both romantically and allegorically. This last meaning is why he is shaking her wrists in an unmistakeable "snap out of it" gesture.