Tlatelolco Massacre: Mexico's Tiananmen Square

1968 A peaceful student demonstration in Mexico City ended in the Tlatelolco Massacre. In October 2003, documents released to the National Security Archive at George Washington University under the USA Freedom of Information Act showed that the massacre was supported by the CIA.

At the Plaza de las Tres Culturas (Place of Three Cultures) in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, thousands of students attempted to protest against the army’s occupation of the university (sources vary between 6,000 and 15,000).

The massacre was preceded by months of political unrest in the Mexican capital (see September 21), echoing student demonstrations and riots all over the world during 1968. The Mexican students wanted to exploit the attention focused on Mexico City for the 1968 Olympic Games. President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, however, was determined to stop the demonstrations and, in September, he ordered the army to occupy the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the largest university in Latin America.

In what amounted to an ambush, the army responded with firepower, killing close to 300 (some sources say thousands), wounding many more and arresting several thousand. Some students were tortured, and others disappeared. After nine weeks of student strikes, Mexican military opened fire on the thousands gathered in the plaza for a march on the National Polytech Institute to protest the army occupation of campus ...

Tagged: tlatelolco, activism, massacre, progressive, cia, mexico, human+rights, civil+rights