Careless Plinthmanship

Post no bills in another nation's pantheon should perhaps be a cardinal rule of international relations. When Richard Nixon went to Mexico two weeks ago to promote neighborly cooperation, both he and President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz were probably unaware of a minor war of heroes that is being waged across their border as a result of some careless plinthmanship.

The paste potshots began when Mexican Social Psychologist Jose de Jesus Fonseca noticed an American magazine advertisement that he felt insulted the Mexican revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata. Over a faded photograph of Zapata, the ad recounted a story of how he threatened to execute any railroad conductor or engineer who thought to keep Zapata's guerrillas from stealing his regulation Elgin watch by wearing a cheaper variety on his wrist. "It's a good thing Zapata's gone," the ad concluded. "He'd be stealing Elgins as fast as we could make them." For $1, a reader of the advertisement might write in for a "Handsome Zapata poster."

Fonseca readied a return salvo. He gathered together some friends in Mexico City and produced a poster of his own, advertising a fictional "Darkie" beer. The poster, captioned "Washington Swung with Darkies," shows the first President's portrait on a dollar bill. "George Washington, the old United States secessionist," said the text, "had an excessive fondness for black slaves, according to legend. He used to sneak out of his home silently at night and head for the slave quarters, where he would abuse them. For us, a Darkie is not a person but a beer which we make for your enjoyment." Within 48 hours, Fonseca had sold 745 of his initial press run of 1,000.

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