San Theodoros - Military

Military

An interesting detail is the proliferation of colonels; in The Broken Ear story, the army of San Theodoros initially had 3487 colonels but only 49 corporals during Alcazar's regime. The entire number of troops deployed by the armed forces possibly stands at approximately 44,900 men during Alcazar's first term and should have been larger during Tapioca's dictatorship. San Theodoros also appears to suffer from the lack of equipment among its troops, as they can be seen wearing a variety of at least eight ammunition pouches and tunics, of varying type and colour. This lasted only during every civil war. The army appears to have armoured vehicles at its disposal, along with MG08 heavy machine guns, Vickers machine guns, mannlicher-type rifles, Mil Mi-1 helicopters and (presumably) artillery, around 95 of them, along with anti-tank guns like the Canon de 75 modèle 1897, 72 of which Alcazar bought in preparation for the Chapo war.

San Theodoros appears to have a navy and air force, but little is seen of them. There could have been at least 10 major navy ships and 40 aircraft. The army later on appears to be armed with FN FAL/AK-47/Heckler & Koch G3 (it is hard to tell which) rifles and wears German style helmets. The army could also have an arsenal of tanks, approximately 50. At one time under General Tapioca, San Theodoros enjoys close military cooperation with fascist Borduria, another fictional country in the Tintin universe, which would explain the style of its military uniform and its munitions. Tapioca's symbol can be compared to the moustache of the Bordurian dictator Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch. After General Alcazar returns to power, some military units are depicted clad in guerrilla-style uniforms.

In The Broken Ear, both San Theodoros and its warring neighbour Nuevo Rico buy arms from the same arms dealer, Basil Bazarov, a character based on Basil Zaharoff.