The Republic of Nuevo-Rico is a nation in Latin America that borders San Theodoros. The capital city of Nuevo-Rico is Sanfacion. The nation is described as a former Spanish colony, becoming a Banana Republic upon independance.
Tintin only briefly visits Nuevo-Rico directly, crossing its border to escape San Theodoran soldiers. He does, however, work against its government while he was in the service of General Alcazar's administration. The nation is only shown in the books when General American Oil and British South-American Petrol were manipulating the respective governments.
Politics
Nuevo-Rico is ruled as a form of dictatorship. The current Head of State is General Mogador. The country appears to have some social-political rivalry with San Theodoros, particularly over the El Chapo region on the border between the two nations. A short and brief war was fought over it in the 1930s, based on the real-life Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia.
Name
The name of the country parodies that of Puerto Rico and means "nouveau riche" or "parvenu" in Spanish. The flag consists of three red stars in a trianglular shape against a black background. The capital city, Sanfacion, a name based on the French "sans façon," which means "bad behavior."
Location
The map showing Nuevo-Rico as being located in north-east South America.
Determining the exact location of the county is difficult, given the conflicting evidence and references made in the books by Hergé. It appears to be located in either Central America or South America. However, at the beginning of part one of The Broken Ear (TV episode) a map hanging in the Museum of Ethnography in Brussels showing the location of the Arumbayas also depicts Nuevo-Rico and San Theodoros as being located in the north-east of South America, above the Amazon River.
