Anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre!
Mexico’s Tlatelolco Massacre!
Mexico City, Oct 2 (EFE).- Por Diego Jabonero Morales
Thousands of people gathered in Mexico City on Friday to commemorate the 58th anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre with a survivor-led march that converged with groups of young people to demand historical justice and draw attention to contemporary issues, such as the crisis of missing persons facing the country.
The march, which began at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco and ended at the capital’s ZĂłcalo, brought together participants of all ages. Attendees shared the sentiment that “thanks to them, we are demonstrating freely,” with students walking alongside social collectives, mothers searching for missing loved ones, and members of the ComitĂ© 68 (Committee of ’68).
The protest commemorates the tragedy of Oct. 2, 1968, when the Mexican army and the paramilitary Olympia Battalion carried out a massacre against a peaceful student demonstration. The event took place 10 days before the Mexico City Olympic Games, during the administration of Gustavo DĂaz Ordaz.
That student movement demanded the release of political prisoners and an end to state repression. It was a tragic day that resulted in more than 300 people killed, wounded, or disappeared, according to various organizations, while the State imposed an official casualty figure that was never fully clarified.
For attendees who experienced the repercussions of that year through their families, the annual march represents an act of recognition for those who participated in the protests of that era.
As the march made its way through the capital’s center, groups of masked youths spray-painted slogans on the walls of Eje Central Avenue referencing the students killed in 1968 and the 43 Ayotzinapa student teachers who disappeared in 2014. Palestinian flags and banners demanding justice were also visible among the marching groups.
Participants chanted slogans such as “Down with the State!” and “We are the grandchildren of ’68!” during a day aimed at keeping alive demands for democratic freedoms and an end to institutional repression.
“I want [my child] to have a country at peace, to be able to go out and have fun, to study in peace,” a pregnant protester, who wished to remain anonymous, told EFE.
Her father had survived the events of 1968, and she attended the commemorative march hoping to ensure a peaceful future for her children.
The call to remember drove the attendance of veterans like Fernando LĂłpez, who came to pay tribute to the victims after recalling, in an interview with EFE, how his brother and cousin had experienced the violence of that day.
“It was truly a deplorable event that we are here to commemorate. Thanks to them, we are demonstrating freely and without the repression of the past, because back then, we weren’t allowed to demonstrate,” LĂłpez said.
Protesters like Gilberto Legona, who told EFE that “if there is no justice, there will be revolution”, used the march to commemorate the past while also protesting other political and social issues affecting the Mexican people.
Older protesters agreed that the student body must remain active in these mobilizations, emphasizing that the presence of new generations on the streets “is essential to guarantee the continuity of a historic struggle” that does not fade with the passing decades.
As the marching contingents arrived at the Zócalo plaza, the day’s events concluded amidst chants and a unanimous demand for the State to put an end to impunity, reaffirming that the memory of Oct. 2 remains a cornerstone of the quest for justice in Mexico.
During the summer of 1968, thousands of students organized strikes and massive demonstrations to denounce the authoritarianism of the Mexican government, dominated by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which suppressed the Tlatelolco protests to prevent disturbances during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. EFE
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