A 1978 silkscreen poster by Rini Templeton and Malaquías Montoya created to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the massacre.

The Tlatelolco Massacre, also known as The Night of Tlatelolco (from a book title by the Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska), took place on the afternoon and night of October 2, 1968, in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in the Tlatelolco section of Mexico City, ten days before the 1968 Summer Olympics celebrations in Mexico City. The death toll remains controversial: some estimates place the number of deaths in the thousands, but most sources report between 200 and 300 deaths. Government sources say "4 Dead, 20 Wounded". The exact number of people who were arrested is also controversial. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (508x689, 703 KB) Summary 1978 silkscreen poster by Rini Templeton and Malaquías Montoya commemorating the 10-tear anniversary of the massacre. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (508x689, 703 KB) Summary 1978 silkscreen poster by Rini Templeton and Malaquías Montoya commemorating the 10-tear anniversary of the massacre. ... Lucille Corinne Templeton (July 1, 1935—June 15, 1986), better known as Rini Templeton, was a graphic artist, sculptor, and political activist. ... Elena Poniatowska Elena Poniatowska (born May 19, 1932 in Paris, France as Princess Hélène Elizabeth Louise Amelie Paula Dolores Poniatowska Amor) is a Polish-Mexican journalist and author. ... October 2 is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 90 days remaining. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ... The Plaza de las Tres Culturas (Three Cultures Square) is the main square surrounded by the Tlatelolco neighbourhood of Mexico City. ... Tlaltelolco is an area in Mexico City, centered on the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, a square surrounded on three sides by an excavated Aztec pyramid, the 17th century church Templo de Santiago, and the modern office complex of the Mexican foreign ministry. ... Nickname: Ciudad de los Palacios Location of Mexico City in central Mexico Coordinates: Country Mexico Federal entity Federal District Boroughs The 16 delegaciones Founded (as Tenochtitlan) c. ... The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were held in Mexico City in 1968. ... Nickname: Ciudad de los Palacios Location of Mexico City in central Mexico Coordinates: Country Mexico Federal entity Federal District Boroughs The 16 delegaciones Founded (as Tenochtitlan) c. ...

The massacre was preceded by months of political unrest in the Mexican capital, echoing student demonstrations and riots all over the world during 1968. The students wanted to exploit the attention focused on Mexico City for the 1968 Summer Olympics. President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, however, was determined to stop the demonstrations and, in September, he ordered the army to occupy the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the country's largest university. Students were beaten and arrested indiscriminately. Rector Javier Barros Sierra resigned in protest on September 23. The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were held in Mexico City in 1968. ... The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state of Mexico. ... Term of office: 1 December 1964 – 1 December 1970 Preceded by: Adolfo López Mateos Succeeded by: Luis Echeverría Álvarez Date of birth: 12 March 1911 Place of birth: Cd. ... The National Autonomous University of Mexico (Spanish: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, abbreviated as UNAM) is today the most important Mexican university and was founded in 1551 by Royal Decree signed by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor at Valladolid, Spain. ... Javier Barros Sierra (1915-1971) Was a mexican engineer and Rector of the Nacional Autonomus University of Mexico during the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre. ... September 23 is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years). ...

Student demonstrators were not deterred, however. The demonstrations grew in size, until, on October 2, after student strikes lasting nine weeks, 15,000 students from various universities marched through the streets of Mexico City, carrying red carnations to protest the army's occupation of the university campus. By nightfall, 5,000 students and workers, many of them with spouses and children, had congregated outside an apartment complex in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco for what was supposed to be a peaceful rally. Among their chants were No queremos olimpiadas, queremos revolución! ("We don't want Olympic games, we want revolution!"). Rally organizers did not attempt to call off the protest when they noticed an increased military presence in the area. October 2 is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 90 days remaining. ...

The massacre began at sunset when police and military forces — equipped with armored cars and tanks — surrounded the square and began firing live rounds into the crowd, hitting not only the protestors, but also other people who were present for reasons unrelated to the demonstration. Demonstrators and passersby alike, including children, were caught in the fire; soon, mounds of bodies lay on the ground. The killing continued through the night, with soldiers carrying out mopping-up operations on a house-to-house basis in the apartment buildings adjacent to the square. Witnesses to the event claim that the bodies were later removed in garbage trucks.

The official government explanation of the incident was that armed provocateurs among the demonstrators, stationed in buildings overlooking the crowd, had begun the firefight. Suddenly finding themselves sniper targets, the security forces had simply returned fire in self-defense.

In October 1997, the Congress of Mexico established a committee to investigate the Tlatelolco massacre. The committee interviewed many political players involved in the massacre, including Luis Echeverría Álvarez, a former president who was Díaz Ordaz's minister of the interior at the time of the massacre. Echeverría admitted that the students had been unarmed, and also suggested that the military action was planned in advance, as a means to destroy the student movement. 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Congress (formally: Congreso de la Unión or Congress of the Union) is the legislative branch of the Mexican government. ... Luis Echeverría Álvarez (born 17 January 1922) was the President of Mexico from 1970 to 1976. ...

In October 2003, the role of the U.S. government in the massacre came to light when the National Security Archive at George Washington University published a series of records from the CIA, the Pentagon, the State Department, the FBI and the White House which were released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests. However these claims do not show direct involvement in massacres of the students. Some suggest that the documents just show that the U.S. was concerned with security during the Olympics. 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for October, 2003. ... The government of the United States, established by the United States Constitution, is a federal republic of 50 states, a few territories and some protectorates. ...   The George Washington University (GWU), or informally, G.W., is a private, coeducational, non-sectarian university located in Washington, D.C.. Founded in 1821 as the Columbian College on land provided by President George Washington, the university has since developed into a leading educational and research institution. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... This article is about the U.S. military building. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... North façade of the White House, seen from Pennsylvania Avenue. ... Nearly sixty countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation, which sets rules on governmental secrecy. ...

The documents detail:

• that in response to Mexican government concerns over the security of the Olympic Games the Pentagon sent military radios, weapons, ammunition and riot control training material to Mexico before and during the crisis.

• that the CIA station in Mexico City produced almost daily reports tracking developments within the university community and the Mexican government from July to October. Six days before the confrontation at Tlatelolco, both Echeverría and head of Federal Security (DFS) Fernando Gutiérrez Barrios told the CIA that "the situation will be under complete control very shortly".

• that the Díaz Ordaz government "arranged" to have student leader Sócrates Campos Lemus accuse dissident PRI politicians such as Carlos Madrazo of funding and orchestrating the student movement.

In 1993 in remembrance of the 25th anniversary of the events a stele was dedicated with the names of few of the students and persons who lost their lives during the event[1]. Fernando Gutiérrez Barrios (October 26, 1927 – October 30, 2000) was a controversial Mexican politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). ... The Institutional Revolutionary Party (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Institucional or PRI) held power in Mexico for more than 70 years. ... Carlos Alberto Madrazo Becerra (July 7, 1915 – June 4, 1969) was a Mexican reformist politician. ... Ancient Egyptian funerary stele Suenos Stone in Forres Scotland A stele (or stela) is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerary or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living—inscribed, carved in relief (bas...

In June 2006, an ailing, 84-year-old Echeverría was charged with genocide in connection with the massacre. He was placed under house arrest pending trial. In early July of that year, he was cleared of genocide charges, as the judge found that Echeverría could not be put on trial because the statute of limitations had expired. June 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Extraordinary renditions. ...

Media portrayals

Rojo amanecer (1989), directed by Jorge Fons, is a Spanish-language film about the event. It focuses on the day of a middle-class family BK living in one of the apartment buildings surrounding the Plaza de Tlatelolco and is based on testimonials from witnesses and victims. It starred Héctor Bonilla, María Rojo, the Bichir Brothers, Eduardo Palomo and others. Rojo Amanecer (1989), directed by Jorge Fons, is a Spanish-language film about the Tlatelolco Massacre in the section of Tlatelolco in Mexico City in the evening of October 2nd, 1968 . ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jorge Fons Pérez (Tuxpan, Veracruz, 23 April de 1939) is a Mexican director. ... This article is about the international language known as Spanish. ... María de Lourdes Rojo e Incháustegui (b. ... The Bichir family is a prominent Mexican family of entertainers of Lebanese origin. ... Eduardo Palomo (May 13, 1962, Mexico City - November 6, 2003, Los Angeles, California) was a Mexican telenovela actor. ...

A new film, Tlatelolco: Mexico 68, currently in production, is due out in 2007. This version focuses on an American journalist in Mexico for the Olympics who gets caught up in the events of October 2, 1968. 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... October 2 is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 90 days remaining. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ...

Richard Dindo, a documentary film maker, has made Ni olvido, ni perdón (2004) which includes contemporary interviews with witnesses and participants as well as footage from the time. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• National Security Archive at GWU
• Unedited photographs of the Massacre (Spanish text)

Further reading

• Poniatowska, Elena (trans. by Lane, Helen R.), Massacre in Mexico (original title La noche de Tlatelolco), New York: Viking, 1975 ISBN 0-8262-0817-7.
• Taibo II, Paco Ignacio, "'68", New York: Seven Stories Press, 2003 ISBN 1-58322-608-7.
• The Tlatelolco Massacre in Mexico by Ronald L. Ecker.