The 1968 student rebellion in Mexico

In the summer of 1968, Mexico was experiencing the birth of a new student movement. But that movement was short. On Oct. 2, 1968, 10 days before the opening of the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, police officers and military troops shot into a crowd of unarmed students.

Government sources originally reported that four people had been killed and 20 wounded, while eyewitnesses described the bodies of hundreds of young people being trucked away. Thousands of students were beaten and jailed, and many disappeared. The final death toll remains a mystery today.

The Beginning Of A Movement

In 1968, student movements were breaking out all over the world — including in France, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Argentina, Japan and the United States. The Mexican student movement started from a street fight between high school students after a football game.

The students confronted the Mexico City police sent there to end the skirmish. After days of student resistance, the army was called in to stop the violence. On July 30th, known as “el día del bazukazo” (the day of the bazooka), soldiers blasted the main door of the National Preparatory School in San Ildefonso with a bazooka, killing some of the students in the building.

In response to this day of massive repression, the rector of the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM), Javier Barros Sierra, led 100,000 people in a protest march. Over the

following months, Mexico City witnessed a series of student protests against repression and violence.

The groups organized two massive marches on August 13th and 27th to the Zócalo, the main square in Mexico City. Between 150,000 and 300,000 people participated in the first march and reclaimed the square, which had previously been used for PRI demonstrations.

Over 500,000 people participated in the second march. The students, both during these assemblies in the Zócalo and in everyday life,

July 30th, 1968. The Day of the Bazooka.

August, 1968. March from the National

used songs, slogans, and jokes to voice their demands for democracy. As part of these two actions in August parents, workers, teachers, and nurses joined the students in their demands for greater democracy in Mexico.

Students expected the government to give in to their demands, but they got a clear message from the president: "No more perturbation will be tolerated." On September 18th the military took over UNAM which had become a center for pro-democracy protests.

When the military attempted to take over the National Polytechnic Institute, students retaliated with stones and Molotov cocktails, leading to three days of clashes between students and military troops. However, this attempt did not stop the protests, as students simply began circulating fliers explaining another act of government repression.

The Massacre

However, as the October 12th date for the beginning of the Olympic games approached, the PRI became increasingly anxious to suppress the civil unrest. October 2nd was the tragic day that marked the campaign. On that day, at the Three Cultures Square in the Tlatelolco, between 5,000 and 15,000 people gathered to get firsthand knowledge of the movement's next steps.

As the gathering was ending, soldiers arrived and began firing on the crowd, the shooting lasted nearly two hours. Hundreds of protesters and residents living in the buildings surrounding the plaza, were killed and 1,000 more were arrested by police and military troops.

The horrific scene was represented in government-controlled newspapers as a violent student rebellion which forced military action. The official informs mentioned that the students fired on the army, and the soldiers had to fire back to defend themselves.

Under an authoritarian regime, no formal investigation into the killings was ever initiated. Protests continued after October 2nd, but

August, 1968. March from the National

September 18th, 1968. Military took over Ciudad Universitaria at 10 pm.

October 2nd, 1968 at 18:10 hrs. Military action against

students started.

October 2nd. Students in line arrested by military.

after the Olympics there was little protest action. In December, students returned to their schools, ending the student strikes.

Although the student protests in Mexico City did not lead to any direct political change, they did lead to a change of mindset in the population. The student demonstrations illuminated the repression and hypocrisy of the government, and can be seen as the root of continuing social discontent.

Adapted from: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97546687 and https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/mexican-students-protest-greater-democracy-1968 Photos retrieved from: https://verne.elpais.com/verne/2016/09/30/mexico/1475271675_862613.html