You hear me! You do not make fun of Juan Valdez!

The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (CCCF) announced a multi-million dollar defamation suit against cartoonist Mike Peters for using Juan Valdez in his strip.

Peters doesn’t even draw a likeness of Valdez in his strip, just mentions his name.

The Colombians are in a huff because Peters’ cartoon talks about a Colombian crime syndicate and then makes a joke about Juan Valdez. The cartoon doesn’t imply that Valdez is an organized gangster (though with that hat and ‘stache, how could he not be?) but merely that Colombia has a bit of a crime problem. According to the CCCF, It’s a “a denigrating and disrespectful piece of black humor.”

All of this over a racist stereotypical fictional character created by an American ad agency and has been a punchline for years. The classic line, “a little Juan Valdez in every can,” is said tongue-in-cheek. 

If your virgin eyes can handle it, here is a link to local blogger Logtar who, being Colombian, covers the subject much more eloquently than I do and also has the full sacrilegious cartoon strip.