Suppression by government is nothing new of our generation and can be traced as far back as early governments and reigns of ancient times. The 60’s were a very revolutionary era in Mexico as the social tensions between the people and the government began to rise. The Mexican government under the reign of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and presidency of Gustavo Diaz Ordaz had been suppressing the people far too much and it was a matter of time before these tensions blew. The events that took place as a result, in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas was to protest government actions and “It was in this vacuum, that the students injected their demands, aspirations, and desires that were not exclusively of their interest, but also of interest of the campesinos, workers, intellectuals and political parties” (Carey p.29). In order to better understand what happened that day in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas I will be providing background as to what led to the protest, the ideologies, the strategies and forms of organization in the movement as well as a summary of what happened that day known as the Tlatelolco Massacre.
The Tlatelolco Massacre took place on October 2, 1968 in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Mexico City. A student movement arose here as a reaction to violent repression and dissatisfaction with the regime of the PRI. A peaceful demonstration organized by the Consejo Nacional de Huelga (CNH) was orchestrated in which over 10,000 university and high school students gathered together with support from independent labor unions, farmers and locals alike. The idea behind the movement was to promote social, educational, political reforms and justice. With the 1968 summer Olympics approaching the CNH saw this as an opportunity to harness the attention and make their demonstrations gain publicity of the injustice of the
Mexican government. Among some of the demands of the CNH were: 1) Repeal of Articles 145 and 145b of the Penal Code (sanctioned imprisonment of anyone attending meetings of 3 or more, deemed a threat to public order). 2) The abolition of the tactical police corps. 3) Freedom for political prisoners. 4) The dismissal of the chief of police and his deputy. 5) The identification of official responsibility for the blood shed from previous government repression (July and August meetings). The moderate demands of the committee however, quickly blossomed into a larger call for democratization.
The rally took place and with the Olympics nearing within 10 days, president Diaz Ordaz was determined to stop such demonstrations. As demonstrations took place military presence began to increase but did not deter participation in the rally. Soon after, the military began to open fire onto the crowd killing students, women, children and bystanders all together. Death tolls that night as represented by official counts were about 27 while witness estimated them in the hundreds. As many as 1,300 where arrested that many of which were beaten and torture as an attempt to intimidate and deter future uprising. The question on why the military fired at the protestors has been debated. Government records indicate they fired in self-defense while witnesses argue otherwise. Recently declassified documents however, have shed light on to this tragedy indicating it was a government conspiracy in which special presidential forces among the protestors where the ones responsible in provoking the massacre. The Consejo National de Huelga (CNH) which organized this as well as other subsequent protests against the Diaz Ordaz government was a delegation of students from 70 universities and high schools in Mexico whose purpose was to promote social, educational and political reforms. The CNH was created on August 8, 1968 by La Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), El Instituto Politechnico Nacional (IPN), El Colegio de Mexico, La Escuela de Agricultura de Chapingo, La Universidad Iberoamericana, La Universidad La Salle as well as other universities of the province. Its formation was in response to previous actions by government against the student community which infringed on student autonomy. As head leaders of the CNH were Raul Alvarez, Socrates Campos, Marcelino Perello and Gilberto Guevera who formed part of the 240 student delegates of male and female students.
Among the ideologies of the CNH which became a driving force behind the movement at Tlatelolco were there strong beliefs in pacifism, democratic socialism, anti-fascism and anti-authoritarianism. This organization believed that both the economy and society should be run democratically to meet the public needs not for profit and that society should have a say in decision making. They were against a government system which resembled a dictatorship with all power given to one and the people subject to their authority which is what Gustavo Diaz and his political party the PRI were guilty of. They believed in a government which gave individual freedom and was just, means through which their student movements were fueled and organized on ideologies of pacifism.
The student movement of Tlatelolco although a tragedy empowered women as well initiating a feminist movement. The student movement had put women participants through intense social experiences all through which the feminist ideas started to spread and grow.
With government attention focused at males as a result of discrimination, gave female participants an opportunity to take control and responsibility in the movement. Even those women who were not participants and simply mothers, sisters and wives of the victims became part of the feminist movement. One example of such movement was the mothers of Tlatelolco who made a stand against the PRI government when the church and media turned their back on them when asked that they have a mass and acknowledge those killed that day publicly. The movement of those mothers and what it represented became similar to that of the “Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo” in Argentina.
Repression by government is nothing new and even to this day exists in one form or another. The movement at Tlatelolco was part of the many other social movements helped establish change and the ideologies of the new generations. Through history we see the student community actively participating and supporting movements for social change. Even to this day student activism is exercised like in the 2009 California college tuition hike protest which demonstrated the student dissent with the high rise in tuition. Student movements today are results of such ideologies, theories and organization tactics made possible by the historical student movements like that of Tletelolco.

Bibliography

• Poniatowska, E. (1998). La noche de Tlatelolco: testimonios de historia oral (2. ed.). México, D.F.: Ediciones Era.

• Schepers, E. (2008). Mexico remembers tlatelolco, 1968. People's Weekly World, 23(20), 6.

• Carey, E. (2005). Plaza of sacrifices: gender, power, and terror in 1968 Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

• Bolado, C. (Director). (2013). Tlatelolco [Documentary]. Mexico: Producciones Mexicanas Discográficas

• Tlatelolco massacre. (n.d.). Princeton University. Retrieved October 4, 2014, from https://www.princeton.edu/achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Tlatelolco_massacre.html

• Tlatelolco Massacre | 1968: A Global Year of Student Driven Change. (2008, November 22). Tlatelolco Massacre | 1968: A Global Year of Student Driven Change. Retrieved October 4, 2014, from http://www.blackstudies.ucsb.edu/1968/mexico_photos.html