Don Nilo is Doña Esperanza's husband. He is known throughout Ingre as someone who has retained the Guaraní language and accent, uninfluenced by the Spanish that even slips into the speech of supposedly monoglot Guaraní.

Don Nilo is a very slow, methodical worker. He is so slow, in fact, that even I could sometimes keep up with him. We spent a lot of time together, or at least near each other, on communal labor days, struggling with our work while everyone else was far ahead.