Minerva who had developed a really close relationship with him, which she claimed was strictly political.  Lio had had a great influence on the Mirabal sisters in that he was the first acquaintance they had made who "presented a very real opportunity to fight against the regime".

One Sunday afternoon, after the family had not seen Lio for a long period of time, Mate reads a newspaper article about a "demonstration at the university, led by a bunch of young professors, all members of the Communist party.  Among the names listed (is) that of Virgilio Morales".  Although this information comes as no surprise to Minerva and Dede's beau Jaimito, Dede herself is aghast.  She

"had never known an enemy of state before.  She had assumed such people would be self-serving and wicked, low-class criminals.  But Lio (is) a fine young man with lofty ideals and a compassionate heart".

The revelation that Lio is a Communist brings Dede to the realization that they are - "as Minerva like(s) to say - (living) in a police state", and as a result of this new understanding, Dede's sense of political awareness is awakened.  She begins "to read the paper with pointed interest...evaluat(ing) and reflect(ing) over what she read(s)".  Her newfound knowledge is confusing to her, and she is not at all sure "what (she is) going to do about it now that she (does) know" (Chapter 5).

In Chapter 5, Dede first realizes the full extent of Lio's revolutionary ideology.  Mate reads from the newspaper that

"there had been a demonstration at the university, led by a bunch of young professors, all members of the Communist party.  Among the names listed was that of Virgilio Morales".

Although Minerva and even Jaimito had known that Lio had Communist leanings, to Dede, the revelation comes as a complete surprise.  She really hadn't known that Lio was "a Communist, a subversive...she had never known an enemy of state before".  In her naivete, she had assumed that "such people would be self-serving and wicked, low-class criminals.  But Lio was a fine young man with lofty ideals and a compassionate heart".

Dede reacts to this unsettling new realization by reexamining her own beliefs.  She reasons that if Lio is "an enemy of state", then Minerva must be too, and she herself, "if she...thought long and hard about what was right and wrong, she would no doubt be an enemy of state as well".  The discovery that Lio is a Communist causes "a new challenge" to be sounded in Dede's life. She tries to refocus her philosophies and her plans for the future in accordance to her developing awareness of the realities of her country's political situation, but, "confused about what she want(s)", she cannot make a true commitment to the revolutionary cause.

Dede learns one other thing about Lio in this Chapter which disturbs her.  When Lio is forced into exile, he gives Dede a letter to deliver to Minerva, asking her to go with him into hiding.  Dede, overcome by conflicting feelings of jealousy, destroys the letter, and Minerva never finds out that Lio had wanted her to go with him (Chapter 5).