I sadly haven't read that far, but the current year in that book so far as I know is 1972.
Two more days before school starts and I'm still struggling to get through that book. >.> I get mixed up on which character is which, but it's interesting how the author sets up the background for each character (even though there are a lot of them with the same first name or last name or something). I think I like the one about Amarante Córdova the most right now...

Where has everyone been anyway?