October 2, 1968

28 de mayo

Today had a much different impact on me than I expected. Kanchi and I had to present on the massacre of Tlatelolco--basically the pinnacle of everything that was wrong with the PRI dominated government throughout the 20th century. Last night, we all watched a movie about the Tlatelolco Massacre called Rojo Amanecer which produced the most anxiety I have ever felt in my life. I would recommend watching it just because it in itself is an experience and I think it offers a pretty great insight to what that tragic night was life. Basically, throughout the 1960s and 1970s, liberal students and other guerrillas in Mexico were realizing that they were unsatisfied with the repression and the corruption of the Mexican government. Various groups, such as el Consejo Nacional de Huelgas, began to meet and organize movements and protests. At one of these meetings, ten days before the Opening Ceremonies of the Mexico Summer Olympics, government and militia forces shut down one of these meetings in the most unnecessarily violent way imaginable. They blocked all exits and fired into the crowd, aiming for anything and everyone, in the name of "peace for the Olympics." Throughout the night, they would enter and search apartments for anyone who could possibly be involved in el Movimiento to "eliminate the threat."

This is La Plaza de Tres Culturas where students gathered on the evening of October 2, 1968 

This is actually part of the Tlatelolco (the commercial center for the mexicas) ruins as well as the church that was built somewhat on top of it by the Spaniards as a display of their dominance

This man gave us his account of the events of that tragic night. He was at La Plaza de Tres Culturas and ended up being imprisoned for over 40 years. His name is Carlos Antonio Beltran Maciel.