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 News from Around the Americas | April 2005 
U.S. Lawmen Aren't Laughing At Cartoon
 Anna Cearley - Union-Tribune
Some U.S. law enforcement officials weren't amused with a cartoon published in Mexican newspapers this month depicting a reward of $10,000 for an FBI or DEA agent.
In the cartoon, a drug trafficker stands near the reward sign. He's quoted as saying, "Let's see what type of hide yields more belts." The hide presumably refers to the skin of the agents.
Cartoonist Osvaldo Muñoz Aceves said the drawing was his dark-humored response to recent demonstrations along the Arizona border againstillegal immigration. He believes the migrants are innocent targets, compared with drug traffickers.
"The drug trafficker is doing something illicit, but not the migrant. The drug trafficker is saying that he has a way of getting back, but the migrant doesn't . . . perhaps the meaning got lost," Muñoz said.
He also said the translated phrase, which some saw as inflammatory, is actually an innocuous Mexican colloquialism for issuing a challenge, such as the English version of "throwing down the gauntlet."
With no reference to migrants in the cartoon, most U.S. agents interpreted it as a spoof on the rewards signs that their organizations post for suspected Mexican drug traffickers.
At the DEA's San Diego office, the cartoon was passed around by puzzled agents. Although the agency hasn't issued an alert, spokesman Misha Piastro said that threats from drug traffickers shouldn't be fodder for humor.
"We always operate under the assumption that these guys are dangerous, not only to the public but for us trying to do our jobs," he said.
Jan Caldwell, spokeswoman for the FBI in San Diego, said several agents reviewed the cartoon but determined it wasn't cause for concern.
"To the core of the issue, threats come in to the FBI and DEA, and we can't allow that to thwart our investigative efforts."
Authorities at the local branch of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, however, distributed the cartoon to officers as an FYI, even though their own agency wasn't singled out, said spokeswoman Lauren Mack.
"It's somewhat ambiguous but we did consider it to be in poor taste and teetering on advocating violence," said Mack. "We decided to alert all our agents as a precautionary measure."
Muñoz Aceves, 32, is based in Guadalajara, and his cartoons – which include editorial statements as well as general humor – appear in more than 70 newspapers throughout Mexico, including El Sol de Tijuana, which published the controversial drawing April 14. He said he doesn't condone threats by drug traffickers. |
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