Halloween | John Carpenter | 1978
Hundreds of students killed in the Tlatelolco Massacre of 1968
On October 2, 1968, ten thousand students gathered in La Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco, Mexico City. College and high students organized to protest the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) repression of social movements and their $1 billion dollar investment (today’s value) in the 1968 Summer Olympics the nation was set to host in a few days.
During their march they chanted – ¡No queremos olimpiadas, queremos revolución! “We don’t want Olympics, we want revolution!”. The protest was scheduled to listen to some speeches in the square peaceful when military forces opened fire into the crowds. Approximately 300-400 students, passersby, children, and journalists fell at the hands of the Mexican state.
The repression was carried out by a special force created in anticipation of the Olympics called the Brigada Olympica, or the Olympic Brigade. The Olympic Brigade was comprised of presidential guards who, as revealed by a 2001 investigation, were ordered to shoot upon the military forces following the student action to provoke them.
It was also revealed that the U.S. sent military radios, weapons, ammunition, and riot control training material to Mexico in response to the manifestations. The CIA outlet station in Mexico City also contributed reports on the university student movement.
Via teleSUR English
