Mexico fighting corruption with comic books

A Mexican think tank has come up with an entertaining way to teach people about the damaging effects of corruption. The strategy involves comic books.

The anti-corruption comic strips originally had a print run of 180,000 leaflets, but the reception was so positive that another 55,000 have been printed.
TRT World and Agencies

The anti-corruption comic strips originally had a print run of 180,000 leaflets, but the reception was so positive that another 55,000 have been printed.

The Libro Vaquero is a legendary Mexican comic book, on par with international equivalents like Asterix, TinTin, or Spider-Man.

First launched in 1978, the name translates to The Cowboy Book. It's Mexico's best-selling magazine, with a readership of more than 1.2 million people every two weeks.

And as the country's federal government launches new anti-corruption laws, the editorial team have joined forces with a Mexican political think tank, to tackle the issue themselves.

"We approached the project looking for ways to inform people in a way that was entertaining. By putting it in simple comic-book format, and using an informal tone rather than preaching, has spread the word better than we could ever have anticipated," Enrique Montes de Oca from the Ethos Think Tank explains.

Alasdair Baverstock reports with more from Mexico City.

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