History 151
28 March 2013
HIST 151: Final Essay

Tlatelolco Massacre

The Tlatelolco massacre was one of Mexico’s worst bloody events. It took place in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas (“Scare of the Three Cultures”) during the afternoon and night of October 2, 1968. Ten days before the Olympic Games, a group of 10,000 students decided to protest against the government’s oppression. Unfortunately the government sent the army to control the event and opened fire on the group of students and killed hundreds of them. All those innocent lives killed ten days before the opening ceremony of the 1968 Summer Olympic Games made a lot of noise in Mexico but also in the whole world. At that time, the Mexican propaganda controlled the media and let the citizens know that the group of students was hostile to the army, which explained the actions of the president and therefor the soldiers. The official paperwork was only available to the public in 2000. These documents got Gustavo Diaz Ordaz and Luis Echeverria, the Mexican president and his interior minister at that time in a lot of trouble, not only after the massacre but also after the publication of the government’s documents.

The book I chose is Massacre in Mexico (“La Noche de Tlatelolco”) written by Elena Poniatowska. The book takes place in Mexico City during the year of 1968. During this period, Mexico has many political repressions. At this time it is also a year of searching and aspirations by students and the labor sector as well. This book is a collection of testimonies about the student massacre that occurred on October 2nd, 1968. It relates the thoughts and the feeling of the people in favor of the student movement but also the point of view of couple of people against the strikers. It also talks about the reasons of the rebellion, the life of citizens after the event, and gives us the antecedents and the consequences of the strike. All those comments were listed by chronological order from the day the massacre occurred and during the two following years. The president Luis Echeverria, Secretary of the Interior during the slaughter of 1968, literary prize awarded to Elena Poniatowska (Villaurrutia Xavier prize) in 1971 by “La noche de Tlatelolco.” But she refused, saying who would reward the dead. In 1979 she received the National Journalism Award. She was the first woman who was awarded this distinction, and the only writer who has won the award Mazatlan twice.

The Tlatelolco massacre took place in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas (“Scare of the Three Cultures”: it was called like that in order to recall the three periods during Mexican history – pre-Columbian, Spanish colonial and the independent “mestizo” nation) during the afternoon and night of October 2, 1968. A group of students took the an opportunity before the Olympic Games in Mexico City by going into the streets of down town Mexico and protesting unarmed and peacefully. Unfortunately the government sent the army to control the event. Sadly, under the Mexican president’s order, the soldiers opened fire on the group of students and killed hundreds of them. Not only students were the targets of the bullets but also civilians, protesters and Mexicans employees. All the innocent lives killed ten days before the opening ceremony of the 1968 Summer Olympic Games made a lot of noise in Mexico, but also world wide. At that time, the Mexican propaganda controlled the media and let the citizens know that the group of students was hostile to the army. That explained the actions of the president and therefor the soldiers. The official orders and paperwork was only available to the public in 2000. Those reports opened the country’s eyes on the real facts of the event. Snipers employed, military special surrounding techniques, eyewitnesses’ feedbacks, evidences of deaths, and 1,345 people were arrested. Gustavo Diaz Ordaz and Luis Echeverria the Mexican president and his interior minister at that time got in a lot of trouble not only after the massacre but also after the publication of the government’s documents.
The questions we can ask ourselves are: How did everything start? Was there any background? What really happened?
In 1968, the president Gustavo Diaz Ordaz and its government invested 150 million dollars (approximately $7.5 billion in today’s terms) in order to organize the Olympic Games in Mexico City. “On October 12, 1968, Mexico became the first country to broadcast the Olympic Games live and in color throughout the world. It was an opportunity for government officials and television executives to beam the country’s modern and economically successful face into the homes of viewers across the globe.” Students of 70 different institutions created the National Strike Council during the summer 1968. The CHN was a democratic delegation that promoted social, educational and political reforms. “1968 was, of course, the year of student discontent in Europe, in Paris, Prague, Berlin, London, and when there was student action in Mexico many thought it was part of the continuing theme.” In fact, in 1968, the world saw many student movements explode in France, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Argentina, Japan and United States. The assault on Vocational School#5 on July 23, 1968 made the students’ organizations mad. The police entered the school in order to arrest street gangs that had enrolled in the school. The granaderos (riot police controlled by the government) assaulted many students as well as teachers. The students created brigadas (brigades); this was the first form of resistance shown by the youth population. Also, couple of weeks before the sad event of Octubre 2, The Mexican police was present at a football game in high school. The game ended up with a massive fight. Sadly the police officers started beating the students up in order to stop the fight. They might have won a battle this day, but they did not know that they did not know that they did not win the war. Many other actions occurred after that to complain about the government violence and violation of the universities’ rights (National Autonomous University of Mexico and National Polytechnic Institut.)
The background of the situation helps us understand the reasons why this massacre occurred. The tensions between students and the Mexican police transformed the Tlatelolco strike into the Tlatelolco massacre. We are now asking ourselves what happened? What really happened?
On October 2nd, 1968 more than 10,000 students gathered in the Tlatelolco residential area in order to protest peacefully against the lack of freedom offered by their government. “By the time the first speaker began it was estimated that nearly 10,000 people were packed into that square, which gave the operation a huge lift. One of the speakers had just started delivering his message when a green Very light soared up behind the Foreign Office block; it caused immediate agitation in the square below and tension on my balcony. My interpreter went white and said, ‘we must leave, it’s the military’”. The army was sent by the government to control the group of protestors. “Gunfire erupted in the plaza around 6 p.m., and several hours later, hundreds of students and neighbors had been slain and thou- sands had been rounded up and detained at Military Camp Number One.” The president Gustavo Diaz Ordaz ordered his troops to open the fire on the young and unarmed citizens. The propaganda of the Mexican government controlled the media and announced that the group of students (infiltrate by communist forces) opened the fire first on the Mexican soldiers therefor they had to fire back to protect themselves. “The exact number of people killed in the massacre has not yet been determined, but forensic anthropologists who continue to attempt to identify the remains of victims found near the massacre site claim it is ‘highly probable’ that close to 500 people died in the conflict. Thousands were injured including Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci—and police detained another 2,000 in Military Camp Number One.”
President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz announced three days before the Olympic Games that “all the eyes of the world would be on Mexico in 1968 and that he hoped Mexicans would respond to their responsibilities in providing a warm and dignified reception for all visitors.” The whole world may have their eyes opened on the athletic event, but not eyes saw what happened during this day. This is why we are asking ourselves: What really happened?
It was only in 2000 that the government in the person of President Vicente Fox decided to make public the official documents. After all those years, view proofs have shown in the one they had, they accounted three to four civilians hurt, eyewitness saw hundreds of bodies being taken away by the military forces. Approximately 385 people died however they only found 40-documented deaths. Information was very hard to find because medias did not talk a lot about it, they did mention it in a couple of television broadcast but did not focus on in and go deeply into the subject. The story that has been told after the massacre is the following. Some special forces infiltrated the students’ group. They did set snipers on roofs and made the rest of the country believe that the students had snipers shooting on the police forces. Also in the middle of the crowd, some Mexican police officers wore one white glove so they would be able to recognize themselves. “On the third floor balcony, the student leaders take cover. ‘We went toward the elevators and there we ran into the men with white gloves.’ They encounter en wearing white gloves on their left hands. “They yelled: Get back! Get down! Get down motherf*****s’ we’re gonna kill you! Then they dragged us downstairs and handed us to the army. Hands against the wall, they made us pull down our pants.’” It was only on September 20th, 2005 that the successor of Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, Luis Echeverria (interior minister at the time) was charged in front of the Justice of genocide. The case lasted until 2006 when he got accused and was imprisoned. Finally on March 26th, 2009 Luis Echeverria got out of prison on the order of the Federal Court.

To sum up, the Tlatelolco massacre is a proof that back when it occurred, the Mexican government, by trying to be seen as a new and strong country, did appear as the opposite they were looking forward to. Such genocide should take place especially when the strikers are protesting peacefully and without any weapons. It also should take place before some athletic event against young students that yell in the street in order to make their future simply better via education. I also wanted to add that this event meant a lot to me as a student athlete. This is the reason why I decided to talk about this subject. However the fact that Justice has been made (even couple of years later) is the main idea we would like to remember about this butchery. We also want to remember all those souls and bodies that passed away for a good reason on this Plaza de las Tres Culturas.

Sources:

* Poniatowska, Elena. Massacre in Mexico / Elena Poniatowska ; translated from the Spanish by Helen R. Lane. New York: Viking Press, 1975

* Henry Giniger. "Hundreds Seized in Mexico Clashes." New York Times. September 23, 1968.

* Celeste González de Bustamante, “Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos: 1968 Olympic Dreams and Tlatelolco Nightmares: Imagining and Imaging Modernity on Television,” University of Arizona, (2010): 1-30.

* Werner, Michael S., ed. Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society & Culture. Vol. 2 Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1997.

* John Rodda, “‘Prensa, Prensa’: A Journalist’s Reflections on Mexico ’68,” Bulletin of Latin American Research, March 2010, 1.

* “Masacre en Tlatelolco, 2 De octubre 1968” Youtube, Published on May 26, 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw2KsKXrF5o

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[ 1 ]. Poniatowska, Elena. Massacre in Mexico / Elena Poniatowska ; translated from the Spanish by Helen R. Lane. New York: Viking Press, 1975
[ 2 ]. Henry Giniger. "Hundreds Seized in Mexico Clashes." New York Times. September 23, 1968.
[ 3 ]. Celeste González de Bustamante, “Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos: 1968 Olympic Dreams and Tlatelolco Nightmares: Imagining and Imaging Modernity on Television,” University of Arizona, (2010): 1-30.
[ 4 ]. Werner, Michael S., ed. Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society & Culture. Vol. 2 Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1997.
[ 5 ]. John Rodda, “‘Prensa, Prensa’: A Journalist’s Reflections on Mexico ’68,” Bulletin of Latin American Research, March 2010, 1.
[ 6 ]. John Rodda, “‘Prensa, Prensa’: A Journalist’s Reflections on Mexico ’68,” Bulletin of Latin American Research, March 2010, 1.
[ 7 ]. Celeste González de Bustamante, “Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos: 1968 Olympic Dreams and Tlatelolco Nightmares: Imagining and Imaging Modernity on Television,” University of Arizona, (2010): 1-30.
[ 8 ]. Celeste González de Bustamante, “Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos: 1968 Olympic Dreams and Tlatelolco Nightmares: Imagining and Imaging Modernity on Television,” University of Arizona, (2010): 1-30.
[ 9 ]. Celeste González de Bustamante, “Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos: 1968 Olympic Dreams and Tlatelolco Nightmares: Imagining and Imaging Modernity on Television,” University of Arizona, (2010): 1-30.
[ 10 ]. “Masacre en Tlatelolco, 2 De octubre 1968”, Youtube, Published on May 26, 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw2KsKXrF5o