The Tlatelolco Massacre occurred on October 2, 1968, in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in the Tlatelolco neighborhood of Mexico City. This event is considered one of the darkest moments in modern Mexican history due to the violent response by government forces to a peaceful student protest.
In the months leading up to the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, there was significant student activism. Students were protesting against government repression, the authoritarian nature of the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) regime, and the substantial spending on the Olympics amidst widespread poverty. The movement gained momentum following a violent clash at the National Polytechnic Institute on July 22, 1968.
On October 2, 1968, thousands of students and civilians gathered in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas to demonstrate. The protest was peaceful, with participants chanting slogans and carrying banners. At around 6:10 PM, the military, under orders from the government, opened fire on the crowd. The exact details of who gave the order to shoot are still debated, but it is widely believed that the order came from high-ranking officials, possibly from President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz himself or his Secretary of Defense, Marcelino Garcia Barragan.
According to government reports, the military was responding to an attack from armed individuals within the crowd. However, eyewitness accounts, subsequent investigations, and declassified documents suggest that the military's response was disproportionate and that many unarmed civilians, including children and elderly, were among the victims.
The official number of deaths from the government was initially reported as 20 to 30, but independent estimates range from 200 to 300 or more. Many bodies were reportedly removed from the scene, and the true number of casualties might never be known due to the lack of transparency and cover-up operations by the government.
In the following days, there was a massive crackdown on the student movement, with many leaders arrested, tortured, or disappeared. The Tlatelolco Massacre effectively ended the student movement of 1968, but it left a lasting scar on the Mexican consciousness regarding human rights abuses and government repression.
The massacre has been a subject of numerous books, documentaries, and research, with survivors and families of victims seeking justice and truth. It has also influenced Mexican politics, culture, and the public's perception of the government. The event is often cited in discussions about human rights, democracy, and the need for transparency in government actions.