Tlatelolco massacre

After a summer with large protests against the 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico City, the Mexican Armed Forces shot multiple unarmed civilians, killing an unknown number in the hundreds. The shooting happened in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in the Tlatelolco section of Mexico City, and is considered part of the Mexican Dirty War. The massacre happened ten days before the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

The head of the Federal Directorate of Security reported that 1,345 people were arrested.^[1] At the time, the Mexican government and media claimed that the Armed Forces had been provoked by protesters shooting at them.^[2] However in government documents released in 2000, it said that snipers had been hired by the government.^[3] The actual death toll range from 300 to 400, with eyewitnesses reporting hundreds dead.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}

References

1. Fernando Gutiérrez Barrios, "PROBLEMA ESTUDIANTIL", October 3, 1968, in ADFS, Exp. 11-4-68, L-44, H-292.
2. Kara Michelle Borden, Mexico '68: An Analysis of the Tlatelolco Massacre and its Legacy, University of Oregon thesis, p. 3.
3. "National Security Archive - 30+ Years of Freedom of Information Action". www.gwu.edu.
4. "Mexico '68". National Public Radio. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
5. "Memories of Massacre in Mexico". Washington Post. February 14, 2002. p. A21.
6. "Mexican leaders vow to open books on massacre". The Miami Herald. October 3, 2001.
7. "Unveiling A Hidden Massacre: Mexico Sets Honors For 300 Slain in '68". The Washington Post. October 2, 1998.
8. Joe Richman; Anayansi Diaz-Cortes (December 1, 2008). "Mexico's 1968 Massacre: What Really Happened?". NPR. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
9. "The most terrifying night of my life". BBC News. October 2, 2008. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
   "Human rights groups and foreign journalists have put the number of dead at around 300."