On October 2nd, 1968 the Mexican government killed and arrested between two hundred and three hundred nonviolent protesters in Mexico City’s Plaza de las Tres Culturas. This had a huge impact to the people of Mexico since they had not experienced any violent protest against the government since the Mexican Revolution but the government’s methods of suppression stunned everyone. The PRI, the party that has stayed in power since the Revolution, saw the demands of the students for a reform as a threat of power. With October 12, the 1968 summer Olympic Games getting closer , the government did not want to show the world how weak it was in controlling its people, and how the people were unsatisfied with the government, it quickly took action to
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“The young Mexican adults during the 1960s were influenced by different sources. They had witnessed the Cuban Revolution, the rise of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara and even the Mexican labor disputes in the 1950s and 1960s. Also, unlike the demonstrations of the past, the student participants were middle class.” On July 22, 1968 was the beginning of trouble. A group of students from rival schools that eventually street gangs joined in, conflict started to get out of hand. The problem between the two rivaled groups was not what started the protests but the way that the government reacted by sending in the granaderos. Keep in mind no protests were occurring at the time they started afterwards. The granaderos acted unreasonable going even after innocent bystanders. Many reports were made that the students ran away in order to avoid violence only to be followed by the granaderos. The students were jailed and tortured. There were two versions on the accounts of the event, one from the government who claimed that the student’s violent acts made them call the granaderos, and allow the government to place the blame on the students. The other version was from the eyewitness accounts that were there during the event, people described it as a scene where the granaderos were causing violence and “looting and breaking windows.” During this time a student group that played a major part was the Federación Nacional de Estudiantes Técnicos or the FNET. After such violent days, the FNET planned a peaceful movement; they wanted to protest against the government when it used violence against the students and trying to make the students take the blame. Even though it was a peaceful protest the government came in with the granaderos, and used violence again to stop the protest. The students were finally tired of the same problem, having a peaceful movement and the police using violence to stop them. The granaderos violent response was
“The young Mexican adults during the 1960s were influenced by different sources. They had witnessed the Cuban Revolution, the rise of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara and even the Mexican labor disputes in the 1950s and 1960s. Also, unlike the demonstrations of the past, the student participants were middle class.” On July 22, 1968 was the beginning of trouble. A group of students from rival schools that eventually street gangs joined in, conflict started to get out of hand. The problem between the two rivaled groups was not what started the protests but the way that the government reacted by sending in the granaderos. Keep in mind no protests were occurring at the time they started afterwards. The granaderos acted unreasonable going even after innocent bystanders. Many reports were made that the students ran away in order to avoid violence only to be followed by the granaderos. The students were jailed and tortured. There were two versions on the accounts of the event, one from the government who claimed that the student’s violent acts made them call the granaderos, and allow the government to place the blame on the students. The other version was from the eyewitness accounts that were there during the event, people described it as a scene where the granaderos were causing violence and “looting and breaking windows.” During this time a student group that played a major part was the Federación Nacional de Estudiantes Técnicos or the FNET. After such violent days, the FNET planned a peaceful movement; they wanted to protest against the government when it used violence against the students and trying to make the students take the blame. Even though it was a peaceful protest the government came in with the granaderos, and used violence again to stop the protest. The students were finally tired of the same problem, having a peaceful movement and the police using violence to stop them. The granaderos violent response was