Thinking of Bialya last week made me think of that other comics dictatorship of my youth, San Theodoros from the Tintin books.
San Theodoros is a Central American republic, very much of the banana republic school and roughly where Guatemala is.
It only appears in two books The Broken Ear and Tintin and the Picaros but it is mentioned from time to time.
The country's leadership oscilates between General Tapioca and General Alcazar, the latter a recurring ally of Tintin.
So, yes, one of Tintin's posse is a seemingly right-wing General prone to coup d'etates.
During the near fifty years the books were published, the book's political attitudes clearly altered, particulary in its depiction of non European countries. Tintin in The Congo is especially guilty in its portrayal of African characters.
In many ways, the change over times in the books' depictions of foreign cultures reflects the changes in European societies.
The last completed adventure, Tintin and the Picaros, implies that Alcazar and Tapioca are pretty similar. They both have armed police patrol the slums and there's seemingly no concern on either leader to lift their people out of poverty.
Whilst I enjoyed Alcazar's appearances, especially his turn as a bad stage magician in The Seven Crystal Balls, it is Tintin and the Picaros which really seals the deal.
We had seen San Theodoros before in The Broken Ear but the later story shows Tapiocapolis to be a very Rio-like capital, full of colour. The carnival scene in particular is fantastic. And the countryside is just spectacular.
Also, because as a kid I knew Picaros was the final completed story, the stakes were very high. Especially as Boduria from King Ottokar's spectre makes a reappearance, giving a feeling of storylines being visited in a last hurrah. Perhaps this makes it even more vivid in the memory. (Even though this wasn't intended to be the final story)
So maybe not the most accurate depiction of Latin America but it lingers in them there memory banks.
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