October 2, 1968: 45 Years Ago – the Mexico City Massacre During Olympic Games
by Daniel Hernandez / IntersectionsEditor: The following was originally written in 2008.
[Forty-five] years ago today the Mexican governmentopened fire indiscriminately on a crowd of peaceful protesters at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, killing still-unknown numbers of students, bystanders, and demonstrators. The operation was abrutal smashing of the grassroots movement for social reform that had swept across Mexico and the world in that turbulent year, 1968.
October 2 is a date that forever remains a dark mark on the Mexican calendar and the Mexican psyche. Its significance in the country’s history has been finally recognized with a permanent exhibit and UNAM cultural center at the former foreign relations ministry complex near the plaza. Today there are marches planned by the Comite 68, survivors who are still seeking justice, and by various student and youth groups from the Tlatelolco plaza, to the Zocalo.
