"Tenía que ser el Chavo del 8!"

When I lived in Costa Rica, one of the few TV programs I watched was Mexico's 1970s comedy, "El Chavo". "El Chavo" starred Roberto Goméz Bolaños (who also starred in "El Chapulin", a program that preceded "El Chavo" but that was not as foolishly amusing to me). "El Chavo" was far from brilliant - the comedic narrative and trajectory of an entire episode can be mapped out within the first 2 minutes or so. Still, the show was amusing, and was a great way to try to improve my Spanish after a long day of classes. In this regard, I joined millions of citizens across multiple generations in Latin America and the United States in having "El Chavo" as a part of my past (it is still broadcast all over the place - I know for a fact they still rerun it here in Brazil in the afternoons, and I caught it on one of the Spanish-language channels in New Mexico when I lived there).

So imagine my surprise to learn that, in a new book, Columbian drug lord Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela is alleging Bolaños (as well as many other artists and actors) performed at parties held by the Cali Cartel. Bolaños is denying the charges, and it's not like a drug lord is the most reputable person. Hopefully, they are baseless and factless allegations, and Bolaños never did anything like this. Nonetheless, it's not out of the realm of possibility. Strange times....