How is Virgilio Morales an important character in In the Time of the Butterflies?

Virgilio Morales is a charismatic young doctor and a Communist revolutionary, Lio becomes close friends with Minerva. Dede also has a silent infatuation with him. When he must flee the country, he sends Minerva a letter asking her to join him, but Dede destroys the letter. He and Dede meet in 1994 and discuss the past and the present state of the country.