Leticia

**Letícia Rivera**, portrayed by Vita Escardó, is a supporting character of the First Story (season 1) of *Chiquititas*.

## History

### Backstory

Letícia Rivera is a young single mother who lives in a small home with her best friend Belén and her younger brother Piojo, her friend Clarita and her 5 year old daughter Sol. Leticia, Belén, and Clarita work for La Pureza as factory workers.

### Season 1

In the pilot episode, Clarita and Belén are at home when little Sol asks the whereabouts of her mother Letícia. After she goes to bed, Letícia gets home late with Rolando, a colleague from work she is dating, who happen to be the delegate representing the workers. He is drunk and trying to make a move on Leticia, who keeps asking him to stop. Belén overhears the query and asks him to leave. He is aggressive and she threatens him with a bottle, telling him to go away. The next morning Letícia tells Belén and Clarita that La Pureza is being sold, and that the new owners are striking a deal with Rolando for the workers to resign to then be readmitted for legal reasons, and that most workers have agreed to that. Leticia then informs them that Rolando betrayed the union and that eleven workers who resigned abdicating their rights were not readmitted, Clarita included amongst them.

Leticia is a sweet, cheerful easy-going person who appears to be a little naive and easily manipulated, but she is a great person who's a good friend to Belén, acting as her confidant. For instance, when Belén witnesses a spark between Martín and Dolores, she doesn't think and make comments about their relationship and Tobias, Dolores' fiancee overhears it, but then Leticia does well in coming clean to Belén about it and feeling sorry.

She cares about Sol and leaves work to take care for the girl's asma attacks, which Dolores allows reluctantly. Martín overhears and decide to help by bringing the medicine Belén can't find to the little girl, thus making another approximation to their home.

#### Leticia's disease

In S1\_E019, Letícia falls ill and passes out, living little Sol desolate. She is taken to a hospital by Belén and Martín keeps her company. When in the hospital, Letícia does a bunch of exams and the doctor finds something on her tomography. Belén tells Letícia to take some time off work to rest and she gets worried because she has to support little Sol and pay the bills. She is then diagnosed with an aneurism. Belén tells her the doctors found something in her exam and she gets desperate, so Belén withholds some information from her and takes a long time to able to tell her, knowing that she could die from it. Belén thinks about Sol's question if her mother was gonna pass away and develops an even stronger sense of responsibility for the girl. Letícia's situation worsens and she passes out again and is hospitalized another time. She learns that she needs to go through surgery, and Belén tells Sol about this delicate situation. Martín promises to find her a good doctor.

#### The theme of Sol's legal guardian

As Letícia's health worsens, the matter os who's gonna look after Sol in case the worst happens become pressing. Saverio asks Belén who's gonna look after Sol in case anything happens, but she doesn't want to think about it. Once the cat of out of the hat, she can't stop thinking about it anymore, but has trouble brining the subject up to Letícia. who's hopeful for a recovery. Leticia wishes of getting better, recovering and then moving with Sol to a smaller place, leaving Buenos Aires and finding a good father figure for her. Upon hearing this Belén drops the subject.

Facha, Tano and Pochi organize a fundraiser to cover Letícia's medical expenses, and plan to sell their old car. Belén asks Martín for a loan to pay for hospital bills and for the specialist found by Martín. Martín tries to hide the fact that the doctor is charging 15 thousand dollars, instead of the 3 thousand dollars. Once she realizes Martín is paying the difference, she's perplexed at his generosity. At last, before the surgery, Letícia tells Belén that she worries what's gonna happen to Sol if anything happens to her, saying that they have no family, to which Belén replies that they are a family. Letícia goes on to tell her that there's only one person that Sol loves as much as her mom, and that's Belén. Belén asks if Letícia wants her to be her legal guardian in case anything happens, to what Letícia replies saying she knows that's a lot to ask for. Belén tells her that she thought about it, but didn't have the heart to bring up the subject, but that she is honored that Letícia would trust her with the most important person in her life. They later arrange for legal paper work with her wishes for Belén to become the little girl's legal guardian. **This emotionally charged scene is important for the narrative of Belén's mission in keeping her promise.** After Belén leaves, Letícia passes out and needs to be rushed to surgery. Belén rushes to find a legal worker, but by the time she gets back to the hospital, Letícia's surgery has already begun.

#### Letícia dies in surgery.

Dr. Espinosa lets the family and friend's know that Letícia didn't resist the surgery. A desperate Belén tires to find courage to tell Sol of her mother's death. She gets revolted when she learns the truth, but later has a dream about her mother telling her to trust Belén, who know has big shoes to fill and the burden of growing up faster and raising a child.

## Personality and Traits

Leticia is a sweet, cheerful easy-going person who appears to be a little naive and easily manipulated, but she is a great person who's a good friend to Belén, acting as her confidant. She's an open person and trusts easy.

## Quotes

* *"Me estuve preguntando que passaria a Sol se todo saliera mal. Nosotras no tenemos familia."* - Letícia to Belén, S1\_E30.
* *"Hay sola una persona que Sol quiere casi tanto como a mí."* - Letícia to Belén, S1\_E30.
* *"Quiero que sepas que eres como una hermana para mi. y que te quiero micho"* - Letícia to Belén, S1\_E30.