Pintando al enemigo

T his book examines the work of Colombian cartoonist Hernando Turriago Riaño, known as Chapete, in the period 1944-1958, from the appearance of his works in the newspaper El Tiempo until the establishment of the National Front. Written by a historian, this book focuses on analyzing the influence of the artist on the historical process indicated and, in turn, the effect of the latter on the artist. His strokes are indicative of the perception and representation he had of the political every day. His caricature is primarily political but with many social and costumbrist themes. In any case, it is a liberal political caricature elaborated, noteworthily, by a liberal man by birth. Although Chapete moved into the world of graphic art, the newspaper El Tiempo appropriated him, and he also appropriated El Tiempo. The newspaper and the cartoonist became a perfect match. Nothing was out of tune: complete coherence, perfect communion. He was, without a doubt, the caricaturist of El Tiempo and, par excellence, of the National Front, as well as the counter-caricaturist of Laureano Gómez, whom he called “Lutero” (“Luther”) for his active role as a letter writer in opposition to the Rojas regime; of Augusto Ramírez Moreno, whom he called “El Payaso” (“The Clown”); of Silvio Villegas, whom he called “El gallo de la veleta” (“The Rooster Weathervane”); of Luis Ignacio Andrade, whom he called “El sacristán de San Calixto” (“Saint Calixtus’ Sacristan”); of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, whom he baptized “Gurropín”; of Gilberto Alzate Avendaño, known as “El Mariscal” (“The Marshal”); of Lucio Pabón Núñez, called “Lúcio Pavor” (“Lúcio Dread”), and of the National Popular Alliance, ANAPO. All the antis of the newspaper for which he worked were also his own.