Edited ley Hectey Fern u Voecte a) see w Pobléte 7 Pat gravee Millan, 2209 (New fork »CHAPTER 5 Argentina’s Montoneros: Comics, Cartoons, and Images as Political Propaganda in the Underground Guerrilla Press of the 1970s Fernando Reati Any Argentine citizen brave enough in the mid-1970s to have in his or her possession one of the underground publications of the leftewing guerrilla organization Montoneros couldn't but have noticed with some surprise that among the communiq fallen comrades, and other habitual staples of the revolutionary press, there were numerous comies, cartoons, and visual icons that visually reinforced the ideological message. This was atter all the so-called Dirty War, the bloody period of State terror when the armed forces violently suppressed any form of dissent—guerrilla groups but also intellectuals, labor and student activ ists, members of church and human-rights groups—through the abduction torture, and death of some 30,000 individuals in secret detention camps. Considering the dangerous nature of the guerrilla struggle and the daily brush with death that the activists experienced while producing this press, itis significant that Montoneros managed to create in such an environment what is possibly the richest and more sophisticated apparatus of visual rhe- toric tor agitation purposes among similar revolutionary movements in Latin America, and that comies, cartoons, and other graphic imagery played so prominent a role in its agitation efforts. Montoneros, an organization of Peroni evolved over just a decade into a radi that would eventually be crushed at the end of the 1970s by the dictator ship that had overthrown the elected government of Isabel Perén in 197 Montoneros was founded in 1968 by a small group of Peronist youth of Catholic background. Its vaguely populist-nationalist brand of socialism was based on Perdn’s so-called ‘third way’ position (supposedly equidistant from capitalism and communism), and soon the group became a central editorials, messages from the leadership, photos of populist background, had militaristic opposition group98 FERNANDO REATI actor in the Argentine political scene until it was violently suppressed by the military. In the brief 1973-1974 democratic interlude after Peron returned from exile, the organization fully participated in parliamentary politics and Montonero-leaning, activists held seats in Congress and even a few gover- norships and ministerial positions. However, after PerOn's sudden death in 1974, the Peronist administration was promptly taken over by the right-wing faction of the movement led by his wite Isabel, and Montoneros decided to all but quit parliamentary politics and return to che armed struggle that had made it popular in 1968-1973. Ac this point, military sources estimated its supporters to number 70,000 with some 7,000 bearing arms (Weathers 1), although independent studies suggest the guerrilla threat was greatly exag- gerated by the military in order to justify the bloody coup of 1976.! What is beyond dispute is that after the brief 1973-74 truce, Montoneros was not only willing but also capable of waging a serious armed opposition to the government, as exemplified by the more than 500 guerrilla operations that took place in 1975 alone (Anzorena 348). Its in this context that Montoneros developed a sophisticated press that made a conscious use of visual rhetoric, producing a surprisingly large number of underground newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and bulletins, Some titles were intended for nationwide distribution while others aimed at spe- citic regional groups or supporters abroad: Evita Montonera; El Montonerm, Peronismo Auténtico, Estrella Federal, Boletin del Ejército Montonero, El Descamisado;, Boletin del Movimiento Peronista Montonero, Noticias de la Resistencia, Boletin Zonal del Partido Montonero, Boletin de la Resistencia; Vencer: Revista Internacional tel Movimiento Peronista Montonero. Among, these, Evita Montonera was the most sophisticated, longest-running and most widely distributed publication, first appearing in December 1974 and continuing uninterrupted through issue no. 25 in August 1979. It is clear that during its brief existence, Montoneros advertised its political agenda through an impressive array of sophisticated underground and semi- underground publications, and that this vast effort evidenced a unique awvareness as to the importance of visual political propaganda through graf ti, drawings, cartoons, comics, symbols, and photos. Rhetorical persuasion replaced ideological conviction as a source of legitimacy, and the reliance on verbal and visual rhetorical devices increased as the group gradually turned away from political action and more towards the armed struggle. [t is at this juncture that a complex apparatus of visual rhetoric made of emblems, stars, photos, symmetric slogans, and iconic figures, along with comic strips, cartoons, and drawings, provided the Montonero followers with a sense of identity through the repetition of certain basic imagery that compensated for an increasingly empty political discourse How to explain Montoneros‘ obsession with visual agitation to the det- riment of a sounder ideological message? It is clear that there were serious political limitations to Montoneros’ agenda due in part to its Peronis populist background, which made che group disregard a more ideological approach to politics and prefer instead an emotional appeal to the sentiments.