when a green flare flew up into the sky, and people started to die all .
The atmosphere was full of panic and confusion as blood covered the floor .
with the smell of death. On the evening of October 2nd 1968, Mexico's history was marked .
by a student slaughter, the Massacre of Tlatelolco. Police, snipers, and the military were .
shooting crowds gathered at the Plaza of the Tres Culturas, to take control of rebellious .
students demanding rights. This is what Jesus Valles encountered, as one of the followers of .
the student movement.
Under the presidency of Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, Mexico lived through one of its toughest .
political, emotional, and social periods ever. Being the sponsor for the up coming Olympic .
Games, the Mexican government wanted total control over citizens, and sent the military to .
keep order. Students from the UNAM, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, started to .
revolt against granaderos (a special anti-force) that were oppressing students into .
complete submission. The government worried that this would lead to further actions, and.
distributed additional police, only to cause more fierce confrontations. Conflicts between .
students and military forces grew, ending in a massacre of over 300 students and thousands of .
people wounded. Some survived, like Jesus Valles but lived in fear and doubts from this .
horrifying day. .
.
Mr. Valles can you explain the reasons that initiated this revolt? He declared saying, "I .
remember it was about March 1968, when two high schools got into a fight, the Preparatoria .
Ocotrena against the Escuela Vocacional, for which the causes are unclear. I believe it was on .
the news that the fights appeared, but the strange factor was the intervention of the anti-riot .
unit that caught our attention."" The anti riot forces were rarely used in that time, only for an .
