Leticia Neria PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

campo.’ 187 But this does not mean that something as difficult and strong as torture was
not portrayed in their pages. It is interesting that in the issues of Hermelinda Linda and
La Familia Burrón which were researched for this study, only the police were described
as a government institution abusive of their power, using torture to get information and
maintain social peace. The army, the intelligence services (such as the Dirección
Federal de Seguridad) and paramilitary groups are not present in these comics. On the
other hand, in Los Agachados, army abuses were portrayed, and criticised, and there
were also a few references to the secret intelligence forces.
As mentioned earlier, in La Familia Burrón, police wrongdoing is signalled by
their nicknames, such as ‘Los Ángeles del Infierno’ 188 and ‘acólitos del diablo’. In fact,
the local police are not the only ones referred to in a negative way. The Policía
Judicial 189 are called ‘perjudicial’ in a clever word game which expresses the idea that
this police force was detrimental to the population instead of supporting and helping it.
We find such language in an issue of La Familia Burrón, and also in one from Los
Agachados, suggesting that this was a common way to refer to these forces. From the
comment of one of the characters in Los Agachados, the Policía Judicial is more feared
than the regular police: in an episode in which two policemen are trapped in a jail, they
hear a voice outside and wondering who it could be, one answers: ‘de la perjudicial,
mano: a esos sí hay que tenerles miedo’. 190
To give such nickname to the police generates comedy through the mechanism
of incongruity. Also, through this act of humour we find a safety valve to express our
187 Carlos Bonfil, ‘El violín y la carreta’, in La Jornada, 29 april 2007, section Cultura,
[accessed 21 May 2010]
188 La Familia Burrón, 17196, p.14.
189 The equivalent for this police force could be the Federal Police Agents. In another word game the
Palacio Negro (Mexico’s city jail) is called Palacio Prieto, playing with the words but also making
references for the reader to interpret and relate with someone or something from the Mexican reality.
190 Los Agachados, 97, p. 26. As explained in chapter two, there were many reasons for fearing the federal
police, since the torture and abuse they inflicted was known.
143