Conclusion
“Prevent World War III" remains one of the most political murals in the city of Chicago almost 40 years after it was created. Painted by Latinx artists, it describes issues that could result in another world war. It also represents issues that affect the city of Chicago, such as gentrification, and how although Chicago is one of the most diverse cities, it remains one of the most segregated cities. People are forced out of their homes, the cost of living there is rising, and the culture is being lost. The “Prevent World War III” mural in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago largely contributed by Marcos Raya, criticizes U.S. involvement in other countries, and calls for people to be political. It calls out everyone that is apolitical, and calls out the hypocrisy in America, because of the U.S. rejecting and discriminating against immigrants from Latin America who had no choice but to leave their countries as a result of U.S. interventions. I don’t think there has ever been a situation where a U.S. military intervention has actually been helpful and a positive thing for a country. There is a lot of controversy among the U.S. intervening in other countries, such as the U.S. giving more weapons to Mexico and Colombia in order to target the drug trade, instead of targeting the actual problem, which is American consumerism of these drugs. Americans have a high demand for these illegal drugs, only making the drug trade worse, and on top of that, U.S. officials have even been a part of this. As you can probably already tell, the war on drugs hasn’t really made any progress in eradicating drug abuse because of the approaches used to target it. Latinx visual art can be political and can advocate for change, as Marcos Raya is doing in “The Fallen Dictator”. “The Fallen Dictator” advocates for Latin America to be free of U.S. interventions, and brings satire to these things.