DATE=10/1/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-41510
TITLE=MEXICO MASSACRE ANNIVERSARY
BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS
DATELINE=MEXICO CITY
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: IN MEXICO, FRIDAY, OCTOBER SECOND MARKS THE 30TH
ANNIVERSARY OF ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC AND VIOLENT INCIDENTS IN
MODERN MEXICAN HISTORY -- THE MASSACRE OF STUDENT PROTESTERS IN A
DOWNTOWN CITY PLAZA. AS V-O-A'S GREG FLAKUS REPORTS FROM MEXICO
CITY, THE WOUNDS REMAIN FRESH IN THE MINDS OF MANY MEXICANS.
TEXT: THE STUDENT MOVEMENT THAT CAME TO A CLIMAX IN THE
TLATELOLCO (TUH LAH TAY LOHL' KOH) PLAZA ON OCTOBER SECOND, 1968
WAS LINKED INDIRECTLY TO SIMILAR MOVEMENTS THAT APPEARED AROUND
THE WORLD THAT SAME YEAR. WHILE LEFTIST IDEOLOGY PLAYED A ROLE
IN THE MOVEMENT, MANY OF THE PROTESTERS WERE YOUNG IDEALISTS WHO
WANTED TO CHALLENGE THE RIGID MEXICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE
TIME.
WHAT STARTED AS A PEACEFUL PROTEST GATHERING OF ABOUT TEN
THOUSAND PEOPLE, ENDED TRAGICALLY IN AN ERUPTION OF GUNFIRE.
OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS PUT THE NUMBER OF DEAD AT NO MORE
THAN 40, BUT FOREIGN JOURNALISTS WHO WERE ON HAND PROVIDED
ESTIMATES AS HIGH AS THREE OR FOUR HUNDRED..
ALTHOUGH MOST MEXICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS OF TODAY HAD NOT YET BEEN
BORN WHEN THE MASSACRE TOOK PLACE, MANY OF THEM LOOK BACK TO THAT
EVENT AS A TRANSCENDENTAL MOMENT IN MEXICO'S MODERN HISTORY AND
SOME OF THEM SEE A NEED TO CONTINUE THE STRUGGLE THAT STARTED
THEN. FOR THIS REASON, JORGE MACIEL (HOHR'HAY MAH SEE EHL')
ACADEMIC SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL POLTITECHNIC UNIVERSITY MADE A
SPECIAL APPEAL TO STUDENTS TO MAINTAIN A PEACEFUL VIGIL ON THE
ANNIVERSARY.
/// MACIEL ACT (SPANISH) ///
HE ASKED THAT THE STUDENTS REFRAIN FROM VIOLENCE AND VANDALISM
AND THAT THEY DO NOTHING THAT MIGHT DAMAGE THE REPUTATION OF
THEIR SCHOOL OR THEIR COUNTRY.
A COMMEMORATIVE MARCH IS SCHEDULED TO TAKE PLACE FROM THE CITY
CENTER TO THE TLATELOLCO PLAZA FRIDAY EVENING. POLICE ARE TAKING
SPECIAL MEASURES TO MAINTAIN CROWD CONTROL ALTHOUGH THERE ARE NO
INDICATIONS THAT ANY GROUP PLANS TO DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN CARRY
OUT A PEACEFUL VIGIL.
WHAT HAS DOMINATED THE MEXICAN MEDIA IN THE PAST FEW WEEKS ARE
THE QUESTIONS THAT REMAIN UNANSWERED FROM THAT VIOLENT EPISODE
30 YEARS AGO. AMONG THE STUDENTS ATTACKED IN THE PLAZA THAT DAY
WAS ERNESTO ZEDILLO, THE CURRENT PRESIDENT OF MEXICO. BUT
NEITHER MR ZEDILLO, NOR ANYONE ELSE IN POWER HAS MOVED TO
RELEASE DOCUMENTS CONCERNING THE EVENT THAT HAVE BEEN KEPT SECRET
EVER SINCE.
MOST OBSERVERS IN THE PLAZA IN 1968 BLAMED ARMY TROOPS FOR FIRING
INTO THE CROWD. SOME SAID THEY SAW SNIPERS FIRING FROM NEARBY
BUILDINGS. BUT AUTHORITIES AT THE TIME SAID THE TROOPS
RESPONDED IN SELF DEFENSE TO SHOTS FIRED BY PEOPLE IN THE CROWD.
THE POWERFUL MEXICAN MILITARY HAS REACTED NEGATIVELY TO ALL PAST
ATTEMPTS BY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TO PLACE BLAME FOR THE TRAGEDY
ON THE ARMY.
AMONG THE ARMY'S CURRENT DEFENDERS IS THE SON OF A GENERAL WHO
NOW SERVES AS MAYOR OF MEXICO CITY, CUAUTEMOC CARDENAS.
/// CARDENAS ACT (SPANISH) ///
SPEAKING AT A SEMINAR ON THE 1968 MASSACRE LAST WEEK, MR CARDENAS
SAID THERE SHOULD BE AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ROLE OF THE
CIVILIAN LEADERS OF THE TIME, INCLUDING THEN PRESIDENT GUSTAVO
DIAZ ORDAZ (GOO STAH' VOH DEE' AHS OHR DAHZ) AND HIS INTERIOR
MINISTER LUIS ECHEVARRIA (LOO EES' AY CHEV AHR REE' AH). MR
DIAZ ORDAZ IS NO LONGER ALIVE, BUT MR ECHEVARRIA, WHO LATER
SUCCEEDED HIM AS PRESIDENT, IS STILL ON HAND AND STILL HAS SOME
INFLUENCE IN POLITICAL CIRCLES. HE HAS DENIED BEING RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE MASSACRE. HE TOLD REPORTERS THIS WEEK THAT HE WOULD
WELCOME AN INQUIRY AND THE RELEASE OF DOCUMENTS THAT MIGHT
CLARIFY WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY.
SOME MEXICAN ANALYSTS SEE THE TLATELOLCO MASSACRE AS A MILESTONE
IN THE STRUGGLE FOR A MORE OPEN, DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL SYSTEM IN
MEXICO, WHILE OTHERS SEE IT AS A SUCCESSFUL ACT OF GOVERNMENT
REPRESSION THAT DELAYED ANY OPENING BY STIFLING DISSENT. THE
IMPACT OF THAT HISTORIC OCCURRENCE IS EVIDENT, HOWEVER, IN THE
NIGHTLY NEWS SPECIALS ON TELEVISION AND THE SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS
IN MANY NEWSPAPERS. THE VIOLENCE OF THAT DAY IS STILL A TOPIC OF
PASSIONATE DISCUSSION AND WILL PROBABLY REMAIN SO AS LONG AS THE
GENERATION OF THE 1960'S REMAINS ALIVE. (SIGNED).
NEB/GF/WDC/WFR
01-Oct-98 7:53 PM EDT (2353 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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