Tlatelolco Massacre Essay

The Tlatelolco Massacre In the summer of 1968, Mexico was thrust into the center of the world stage pending the upcoming Olympics. The highly anticipated event generated a variety of emotions amongst the Mexican people, and not all emotions were good. The people were angry; millions of government dollars were being funneled ruthlessly into this event while a large majority of the population lived well below the poverty line and struggled to survive day-to-day. The anger and the desire for change amongst the people led to the birth of a student led social movement against the government which led to the horrific massacre that occurred on October 2nd, 1968 (Richman). The summer of 1968 was a vivacious one in Mexico. Amongst the middle class, …show more content…
Thousands were in attendance; students, adults, children (Werner). Whether they agreed with the notions of the people or the notions of the government, it was still a site to be seen. Some came to tell the stories of their struggles, hardships and anger towards the government while others came to watch and listen to those who so brazenly spoke out against the government. Unanimously, those who were rallying chanted together “We don 't want Olympic games, we want revolution!” in Spanish (Tinoco). Energies were running high and people believed this rally would ignite the change from the government that they so desperately needed. At 6:10pm during sunset, the government decided to let the people at Plaza des las Tres Culturas know that their voices were heard. And they would not be tolerated. Ten thousand armed military troops stormed and infiltrated the housing development opening fire against anyone in their path. Helicopters were deployed and dropped flares amongst the crowd to help the ground troops with the destruction. The armed military troops were ruthless, shooting anyone in the square regardless of their involvement. Resident 's in the housing development were