Rius

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Eduardo del Río (born June 20, 1934) is a famous Mexican political cartoonist known by his pen name Rius, who was born in Zamora, Michoacán.

One of the most popular Mexican cartoonists and has written over a hundred books that remains widely popular, especially amongst his Mexican readers, Rius is a fierce political activist, and his progressist and liberal point of view is often present in his writings accompanied by a strong criticism of neo-liberal doctrines and U.S. Government policies.

From the 1960s he began cartooning in magazines and newspapers, sometimes in political themes. He made two famous comics, Los Supermachos and Los agachados, wich were a humorous criticism of the Mexican government. After his success with these, he made many books, all illustrated and written by hand by him, covering a range of topics on politics, vegetarianism and religion. His books have become popular mainly because of their humor, which attempts to reach the general reader, as well as for their simplicity, which givines an overview of its theme without becoming difficult. His political tendencies are leftist, and he is an open advocate of the Cuban revolution.

In 1970, the first English edition of Rius's book Cuba Para Principiantes, a humorous comic strip presentation of Cuban history and the revolution, was published in the United States as Cuba for Beginners. The book became an international bestseller and kicked off the For Beginners series of books from Writers' & Readers' and later Icon Books. In 1975, Rius published the book Marx for Beginners, a humorous comic strip representation of Karl Marx's life and ideas.

In the 1990s he participated in two political humour magazines: El Chahuistle and El Chamuco (named after an insect plague and the devil, because they were harsh on politicians).

His success and long career have made him a reference point to the newer generations of political cartoonists in Mexico. Mexican director Alfonso Arau made a movie based on characters appearing on Los Supermachos in 1973.