Chucho el Roto: The Elegant Bandit

The Man Who Protected the Poor and Fought Against Injustice

Chucho el Roto: The Elegant Bandit

By Sheryl Losser

Promotional poster for the film Chucho el Roto from 1954. (El Universal archive)

Chucho el Roto (The Elegant Bandit) was the most famous bandit in Mexican history.  Chucho was an uncommon criminal.  He was an outlaw and a bandit but was also kind and gentlemanly.   He was always elegantly dressed but other than money for expensive clothes and the theatre, which he loved, he gave the remainder of his proceeds to the poor.

At a time of social inequalities at the end of the 19^th century, Chucho was seen as an antihero – one who is honorable and noble – and a Robin Hood-esque character while the privileged classes and President Porfirio Díaz were seen as inflicting injustices on the less privileged classes.