The Mexican Revolution which began in 1910 was closely watched by the US. A Mexico City exhibition shows how US cartoonists depicted the volatile events south of the border. US magnates such as Hearst, Guggenheim and Rockefeller had big investments there.

Mexicans were often depicted as violent and irrational - a mad dog that only Uncle Sam could take care of. Here European leaders urge the US to intervene to protect their interests in Mexico. Germany hoped this would distract the US from entering WWI.

A frequent target was revolutionary leader Francisco "Pancho" Villa. "People in the US found him fascinating on account of his bandit past," says exhibition curator Juan Manuel Aurrecoechea. Pancho Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico, in 1916.

Many cartoons backed calls for US intervention in Mexico. In 1914, US troops occupied the port of Veracruz, an action deemed an "invasion" by the Mexican government. Some in the US questioned why they were involved in another nation's affairs.

The Mexican Revolution was seen not only as a threat to US interests but to civilisation itself, says curator Juan Manuel Aurrecoechea. Washington's "civilising mission" was to restore order to its southern neighbour.

As Mexico's revolution split into factions, the US too shifted in its view of who to back. For their part, revolutionaries sent agents and lobbyists to the US try to drum up support in different sectors of American society.

Many in the US saw Mexico as a constant source of instability. In this 1919 cartoon, Uncle Sam, busy working on the League of Nations and peace treaties after WWI, has to break off as trouble flares again.