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

speaks openly about the paramilitary group Los Halcones even as the government
denied their existence. The comic refers not only to Los Halcones, but to other
paramilitary organisations which had been previously reported by the left wing press:
‘la existencia de diversos grupos “secretos” semi-policiacos y semi-militares, destinados
a asesinar, golpear, ametrallar y destruir todo movimiento de oposición al regimen..’. 209
It explains that these groups recruit young delinquents or members from the army or the
pentatlón (cadets), or even hooligans. In a different issue, there is a reference to the
secret police and their abuse when the government blames the communists for
boycotting a space trip: ‘Seis “culpables” aparecieron un día en los separos de la
secreta: eran 6 comunistas que habían confesado su crímen, pagados por Corea del
Norte...’. 210 The plot of the issue is illogical since is about a Mexican mission to the
moon that is a disaster because it is organised in a corrupt way. But again, the reader
finds an opportunity to talk about something forbidden in a gentler way.
Forced Disappearance
In some issues of La Familia Burrón and Los Agachados, there are elements which are
related to forced disappearances. Not only could someone be arrested without a warrant,
as mentioned above, but they could also be held without communication or official
information on their whereabouts. We already discussed the story in Los Agachados in
which Don Ruco is looking for Nopalzin because he had a dream in which Nopalzin
was abducted by the authorities, and Profe Gumaro refers to the fact that journalists
suffered that punishment. These little allusions were some of the channels to express
common understandings that these events occurred. Political prisoners are mentioned
209 Los Agachados, 98, p. 2.
210 Los Agachados, 269, p. 23.
151