Mexican Student Movement

Mexican Student Movement was a significant social and political movement that took place in Mexico City, Mexico in 1968, led by students from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), with support from other institutions such as the University of Guadalajara and the University of Michoacán. The movement was influenced by the ideas of Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and the Cuban Revolution, as well as the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, led by figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. The students were also inspired by the May 1968 protests in France, which were led by students and workers, including Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Jean-Paul Sartre. The movement was marked by a series of protests and demonstrations, including the Tlatelolco massacre, which was witnessed by Octavio Paz and Carlos Fuentes.

● Introduction

The Mexican Student Movement was a response to the Mexican government's authoritarian rule, led by Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, and the lack of democratic freedoms, which was also criticized by Pablo Neruda and Gabriel García Márquez. The movement was characterized by its demands for greater autonomy for universities, freedom of speech, and an end to government repression, which was also supported by Amnesty International and the United Nations. The students were influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Mao Zedong, as well as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the United States, led by Stokely Carmichael and H. Rap Brown. The movement also had the support of intellectuals like Julio Cortázar and Mario Vargas Llosa, who were part of the Latin American Boom.

● Background

The Mexican Student Movement was part of a larger wave of student protests and movements that took place around the world in the 1960s, including the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia, led by Alexander Dubček, and the Student Movement in Germany, led by Rudi Dutschke. The movement was also influenced by the Vietnam War, which was opposed by Ho Chi Minh and the North Vietnamese Army, as well as the American Indian Movement, led by Russell Means and Dennis Banks. In Mexico, the movement was preceded by a series of smaller protests and demonstrations, including the 1956 Mexican general strike, which was led by the Confederación de Trabajadores de México (CTM), and the 1958 Mexican student strike, which was supported by the Partido Comunista Mexicano (PCM). The movement also had the support of labor unions like the Unión Nacional de Trabajadores (UNT) and the Federación de Sindicatos de Trabajadores al Servicio del Estado (FSTSE).

● Key Events

The Mexican Student Movement began on July 22, 1968, with a protest against the Granada riots, which were sparked by a confrontation between students and Mexico City police, led by General Luis Cueto Ramírez. The protest was organized by the National Strike Council (CNH), which was composed of students from UNAM, IPN, and other universities, including the University of Puebla and the University of Veracruz. The CNH was led by students like Marcelino Perelló, Roberto Escudero, and Sócrates Campos Lemus, who were influenced by the ideas of Leon Trotsky and the Fourth International. The movement gained momentum in the following weeks, with protests and demonstrations taking place in Mexico City and other cities, including Guadalajara and Monterrey.

● Major Protests and Demonstrations

The Mexican Student Movement included several major protests and demonstrations, including the August 13, 1968, protest, which was attended by over 200,000 people, and the September 13, 1968, protest, which was marked by clashes between students and police, led by General José Hernández Toledo. The movement also included a series of marches and rallies, including the March of the Silent, which was organized by the CNH and supported by Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and the Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD). The movement was also marked by the occupation of several universities, including UNAM and IPN, which were supported by El Colegio de México and the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE).

● Government Response and Aftermath

The Mexican government responded to the movement with repression and violence, including the Tlatelolco massacre, which took place on October 2, 1968, and resulted in the deaths of over 300 students, according to estimates by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The massacre was carried out by the Mexican Army, led by General Marcelino García Barragán, and the Federal Security Directorate (DFS), led by Fernando Gutiérrez Barrios. The government also arrested and imprisoned many student leaders, including Marcelino Perelló and Roberto Escudero, who were later released and went into exile in Cuba and France. The movement was eventually crushed, but it had a lasting impact on Mexican politics and society, leading to the formation of new political parties like the Partido Socialista Unificado de México (PSUM) and the Partido Mexicano Socialista (PMS).

● Legacy and Impact

The Mexican Student Movement had a significant impact on Mexican politics and society, leading to greater democratization and the formation of new political parties, including the Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) and the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN). The movement also inspired similar movements in other countries, including the Chilean student movement and the Argentine student movement, led by Che Guevara and Eva Perón. The movement is remembered as a key moment in Mexican history, and its legacy continues to be felt today, with many regarding it as a precursor to the Mexican transition to democracy, which was supported by Carlos Salinas de Gortari and the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI). The movement is also commemorated by the Museum of the Mexican Student Movement, which is located in Mexico City and was founded by Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and Luis González de Alba. Category:Mexican history