Student Movement of '68 (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what the student movement of '68 in Mexico was and its causes. Also, its consequences and who were its leaders.

What was the student movement of '68?

The student movement of '68 was a social movement that emerged in 1968 in which students participated from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and other Mexican educational institutions, as well as teachers, professionals, workers and other social sectors.

This movement was formed in Mexico City in response to a series of attacks that, a few days before, a group of students had suffered by grenadiers (a special police force). They had used tear gas to chase and arrest the young people after some student clashes.

Following this fact, student groups went to Plaza Constitución on July 26, 1968 to protest and members of the Mexican Communist Party joined them. But before they arrived, the police repressed them and left hundreds injured. Many of the young people, in the midst of the repression, took refuge in the university buildings and were besieged by the security forces.

A day later, the students took to the streets again and took over UNAM, while clashes with the police continued to grow while new schools were added. As the grenadiers did not achieve their objective of reducing the mobilizations, The government summoned the army, which attacked the UNAM facilities on July 30.

For two months, students who opposed President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, authoritarianism and the violence of repressive forces remained in the streets of Mexico City, organized a National Strike Council, held rallies and received the support of various social sectors.

On October 2 this situation came to an end, when The military opened fire in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco where students and journalists had gathered. The explanation usually given for the incident is that flares were dropped from a helicopter and a shooting immediately began.

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It has been suggested that the flares were thrown to confuse the military surrounding the square and make them believe they were being attacked by the students. In any case, the military forces targeted the protesters in the square.

To date The exact number of deaths caused by this event, which is known as the Tlatelolco massacre, remains unknown. While the Mexican government spoke of less than 30, the calculations made by a mother who had searched for her son's body exceeded 65 and the Special Prosecutor's Office for Social and Political Movements of the Past estimated in 2006 a figure of 350 dead.

Key points

The student movement of '68 was a series of demonstrations by Mexican students against the authoritarianism of the government.
It began in Mexico City on July 26 and ended with the Tlatelolco massacre perpetrated by the army on October 2, 1968.
The Tlatelolco massacre left approximately 350 dead and thousands injured and detained.
The student movement and its repression fueled demands for greater democracy and respect for human rights in Mexico.

Causes of the student movement of '68

The student movement of '68 did not arise from a single cause, but there were several factors that influenced its development. To analyze this fact We must take into account the history of Mexico and the international context in addition to the clashes between the students and the security forces that were the trigger.

Some of the main causes of the student movement of '68 were:

Student clashes and police repression. On July 22, 1968, students from the IPN and Isaac Ochoterena High School confronted each other, according to some interpretations instigated by two porriles groups (student shock groups). The grenadiers intervened in the confrontation and injured several students. This fact was the trigger for the subsequent student marches.
Inequality and lack of representation. The economic growth that the country was going through in that decade did not translate into an equitable distribution of wealth. Added to this was that, since the middle of the 20th century, some workers and union sectors staged protests that were repressed by the security forces of that country. An additional factor was that young middle-class students did not find a representative among the political figures and spaces of the time. These two social actors (the middle class students and the workers who showed solidarity with the protests) were protagonists of the mobilizations of '68.
International context. In other parts of the world, students led mobilizations that had various objectives, such as the end of the Vietnam War in the United States or socialism “with a human face” in Czechoslovakia. What happened in Mexico was not an isolated event but one more example of young people seeking a role in the transformations they considered necessary for their society.
Cuba as a goal. An event of those years that was inspiring for young people from different parts of the Western world was the Cuban Revolution, led by Fidel Castro. His victory in 1959 was an example that revolution was possible, and some young Mexicans identified with the ideas of pro-Cuban communism.

Consequences of the student movement of '68

Some of the main consequences of the student mobilizations of 1968 were:

Tlatelolco Massacre. The student mobilization was met with repression by the army. The number of students and other protesters killed in Tlatelolco remains unknown, but it is estimated that there were around 350 people killed. To this must be added more than a thousand arrests.
Transformation in government. After the social repudiation that the Mexican government received as a consequence of the Tlatelolco massacre, President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz was forced to adopt measures such as granting the right to vote to everyone over 18 years of age. Furthermore, the arrival of a new president, Luis Echeverría, brought about a series of internal changes. Echeverría chose to leave out of the government all the officials who were accused of being responsible for the student massacre.
Criticism and radicalization. The students harshly questioned who was the president at that time and took the lead against the authorities. Violence and repression by the State convinced and mobilized other sectors of society to demand a series of transformations. On the other hand, some youth groups experienced a radicalization process, especially in public universities, and new guerrilla organizations were formed.

Leaders of the student movement of '68

Some of the young people who led the student movement of 1968 were:

Raúl Álvarez Garín. In 1968 he was 27 years old and studying at the UNAM Faculty of Sciences.
Pablo Gomez Alvarez. He had been active in the Communist Youth since he was 17 years old. In 1968 he was 21 years old and president of the student society of the Faculty of Economics.
Socrates Campus Lemus. He was a member of the Communist Youth, a delegate of the IPN Higher School of Economics and he was 22 years old.
Luis Cabeza de Vaca. He was described as one of the most radical within the movement. He was 25 years old and a student at the Chapingo Agricultural School.

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References

Delgado de Cantú, GM (2015). History of Mexico. Historical legacy and recent past. Third edition. Pearson.
Hamnet, B. (2014). History of Mexico. Second edition. Akal.
Mena, R. (2018). The leaders of the '68 movement: where are they? Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/
von Wobeser, G. (ed.) (2014). History of Mexico. Economic Culture Fund.