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| National Strike Council (CNH) | |
|---|---|
| Name | National Strike Council (CNH) |
| Native name | Consejo Nacional de Huelga |
| Formation | July 1968 |
| Dissolved | 1970s |
| Purpose | Coordination of student strikes and protests |
| Headquarters | Mexico City |
| Region | Mexico |
National Strike Council (CNH) The National Strike Council (CNH) was a coordinating body created by Mexican students in 1968 to organize nationwide protests, negotiate demands, and direct sit-ins and demonstrations. Emerging in the context of escalating confrontations between student activists, police forces, and political institutions, the CNH became a central actor in the 1968 Mexican student movement and the events culminating in the Tlatelolco massacre. The council's structure, tactics, and suppression had enduring consequences for Movimiento Estudiantil de 1968 (México), human rights discourse, and Mexican political life.
The CNH emerged amid a landscape shaped by postwar developmental policies under Miguel Alemán Valdés, the ruling Partido Revolucionario Institucional, and cultural debates involving institutions like the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and the Instituto Politécnico Nacional. International influences included the May 1968 events in France, the Civil Rights Movement, and protests at the University of California, Berkeley. Domestic catalysts involved clashes at the Issste, altercations around Plaza de las Tres Culturas, and repression linked to forces such as the Dirección Federal de Seguridad. Student federations like the Federación de Estudiantes Universitarios and groups associated with faculties across Mexico City galvanized assemblies that precipitated the CNH's creation.
Founded in July 1968, the CNH modeled its committees on democratic assemblies inspired by practices seen at the Sorbonne, UC Berkeley, and various Latin American student organizations. Delegates represented schools including the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (UNAM), Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas (IPN), and the Escuela Nacional de Medicina (UNAM), and collective bodies such as the Consejo Técnico de la Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. The CNH established commissions for information, logistics, and liaison with cultural actors like the Compañía Nacional de Teatro and labor groups such as the Confederación de Trabajadores de México. Leadership rotated through plenary votes, reflecting influences from assemblies linked to the Frente Universitario de Liberación and grassroots practices associated with the Movimiento Revolucionario del Pueblo.
The CNH coordinated demonstrations that connected sites such as Zócalo (Mexico City), Tlatelolco, and the Plaza de Santo Domingo with provincial centers in cities like Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Oaxaca de Juárez. It issued communiqués addressed to figures like Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, institutions including the Secretaría de Gobernación (México), and international bodies such as the Organización de los Estados Americanos. The council negotiated with municipal authorities and sought visibility through cultural alliances with artists associated with the Galería Ponce, musicians from the Nueva Trova, and intellectuals linked to the Ateneo de la Juventud. Its tactics—occupations, daily manifests, and symbolic ceremonies—drew attention from newspapers like Excélsior, magazines including Siempre!, and broadcasters such as Televisa.
Major CNH-organized mobilizations included mass marches toward the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, strikes that paralyzed campuses of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, and coordinated solidarity actions with workers from the Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas and cultural demonstrations at venues like the Palacio de Bellas Artes. The council orchestrated sit-ins that transformed spaces such as the Casa del Lago into hubs for political education and debate, and it produced manifestos circulated through publications linked to the Movimiento de Liberación Nacional (México). Events culminating on 2 October 1968 involved CNH directives coordinating converging contingents from city barrios including Tlatelolco (barrio), Doctores, and La Merced toward the Plaza de las Tres Culturas.
State response combined negotiations with security operations executed by units such as the Policía Federal and intelligence activities attributed to the Dirección Federal de Seguridad. Political leaders including Gustavo Díaz Ordaz and cabinet members from the Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional framed student actions as subversive, invoking laws and measures enforced by municipal and federal police. Repressive episodes culminated in coordinated operations against CNH-affiliated encampments and assemblies, most notably the violence on 2 October 1968 at the Plaza, which involved armed forces from the Batallón Olimpia and resulted in mass arrests, casualties, and subsequent trials implicating officials from the Gobierno de la República Mexicana.
The CNH's suppression and the events of 1968 reshaped Mexican civic culture, affecting movements such as Solidaridad, influencing later dissident networks like the Frente Guerrillero de 1968, and informing reforms within universities such as the UNAM. The memory of CNH activism has been preserved through memorials at sites like the Plaza de las Tres Culturas and institutions such as the Centro de Estudios del Movimiento Estudiantil de 1968. The CNH contributed to debates about accountability that implicated actors from the PRI era and prompted inquiries involving the Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos and historians at the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia.
Key CNH participants included student leaders and intellectuals associated with the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, the Instituto Politécnico Nacional, and regional universities in Chiapas and Jalisco. Prominent figures connected to CNH activities—though not exhaustive—can be traced through affiliated groups and public assemblies involving persons linked to the Movimiento Estudiantil de 1968 (México), cultural allies from the Generación de la Ruptura, and labor sympathizers from the Confederación de Trabajadores de México. Membership encompassed delegates from faculties such as Facultad de Derecho (UNAM), Facultad de Ingeniería (UNAM), art schools like the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda", and student federations across states including Veracruz, Puebla, and Chihuahua.
Category:Student movements in Mexico Category:1968 protests Category:Political organizations established in 1968