Nazi parachutist drops toward a cactus while Uncle Sam and a Mexican charro laugh (Spanish-language OCIAA poster)
A cartoon shows a paratrooper in a swastika armband, face crumpled in alarm, drifting toward a large spiny cactus, while Uncle Sam and a sombrero-less Mexican figure in charro dress dance and laugh below, both making V signs. The tell for name-calling is ridicule: the enemy soldier is drawn as a small, panicked figure and his landing is made a joke, with no text beyond the imprint.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (El Coordinador de Asuntos Interamericanos), Washington; artist Arias Bernal
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work, NARA RG 44 OWI series)
Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs; artist Arias Bernal, 1941-1945. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44 (NAID 44268149, 44-PF-825b).
Text on the object
Publicado por El Coordinador de Asuntos Interamericanos, Washington, E. U. A. [signature:] ARIAS BERNAL
Published by the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, Washington, U.S.A. [signature:] ARIAS BERNAL
