San Theodoros
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San Theodoros is a fictional South American country in The Adventures of Tintin.
San Theodoros apparently become independent around 1805 and a general named Simone Olivaro had something to do with it, similar to Simón Bolívar, but with the distinstive Kurvi-Tasch moustache. Its capital is Los Dopicos (which was called Tapiocapolis while General Tapioca was in power).
Fixing the location of the county is difficult, given the conflicting references in the books. It appears to be located in northern South America, most likely occupying a portion of the current states of Colombia or Venezuela, rather than in the vicinity of Bolivia. This is because the mountains shown in the books do not appear to be part of the higher, rockier portions of the Andes. The capital, Los Dopicos, is shown in The Broken Ear as having a seaport, whereas in Tintin and the Picaros, it appears to be inland. It is possible that the capital's situation is similar to that of Caracas, Venezuela, where the inland downtown area and coastal suburbs are separated by a small mountain.
San Theodoros is a satirical version of a South American country under the yoke of military government. Military coups and counter-coups of generals Tapioca and Alcazar have followed each other with regularity – and soldiers switch sides every time. In fact, revolution seems like a tradition in San Theodoros, as evidenced in Tintin and the Picaros, where it was said that mass executions after a revolution by firing squads is a tradition. An interesting detail is the proliferation of colonels; during The Broken Ear story, the army of San Theodoros had 3487 colonels but only 49 corporals. Apparently, this is one of their other traditions, but according to Tintinologist Michael Farr, it could just as easily be intentional humor.
The country has a few magnificent Paztec pyramids in Trenxcoatl, including one called Hotuatabotl featured in the Picaros. (Paztec is a pun on Aztec and pastèque, watermelon, and the names of the pyramids, puns on "trench coat" and "hot water bottle" respectively, are meant to look like Nahuatl, like the volcano Popocatepetl in Mexico.) In the jungle areas of the country live Indian tribes of Bibaro (or "Rumbaba") and Arumbajo (or Arumbaya). With Arumbajos lives explorer Ridgewell, who tries to teach them golf. In the English books, they speak cockney, but it is written in such a way that it looks meaningless. (One example: "Ai tolja tahitta ferlip inbaul intada oh'l!" instead of "I told you to hit the flippin' ball into the hole!") Various stereotypical cockney expressions are also included, for example "corluv ahduck" (Cor, love a duck!), "goh blimeh" (Gorblimey) and, in the case of an Arumbaya trying on Professor Calculus's hat, "Wot at it'fa" (What a titfer! (Rhyming slang, tit-fer-tat=hat))
San Theodoros also has a hostile neighbor called Nuevo Rico. During the The Broken Ear story the two countries go to war over the area of Gran Chapo – an allusion to the Chaco War fought by Bolivia and Paraguay over Gran Chaco from 1932-1935.
In The Red Sea Sharks, General Alcazar is seen in exile, having been deposed again by his rival in 1958.
The latest information about the country is from 1976 when general Alcazar for the last time ousted general Tapioca during a carnival in an unusually bloodless coup. His guerillas wore carnival outfits during the operation. Tintin and his associates had their minor part in the proceedings, although Tintin concocted the plan, and insisted that there be no bloodshed. After the coup General Alcazar renamed the capital from Tapiocapolis to Alcazarpolis after himself.
[edit] Local business
The central bank is called Banco de la Nación.
The national airline is SANTAERO.
[edit] Tintin albums with San Theodoros
- L'Oreille cassee (The Broken Ear, 1937)
- Les Sept Boules de cristal (The Seven Crystal Balls), mentioned but not seen
- Coke en Stock (The Red Sea Sharks), mentioned but not seen.
- Tintin et les Picaros (Tintin and the Picaros, 1976)
