The 1968 Mexico City massacre
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 10 July 2024
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On 2 October 1968, thousands of students protested in Mexico City, 10 days before the Olympics.
The students wanted the government to free political prisoners and respect their right to protest.
More than 4,000 activists came to the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in the capital's Tlatelolco district that evening.
It resulted in Mexican soldiers opening fire on the protesters. The death toll has never been confirmed, a government report from the time put it at 26, while student leaders estimated it at more than 100.
In 2011, one of the young protesters, David Huerta, spoke to Julian Miglierini.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
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(Photo: Students arrested by police in Tlatelolco on 2 October 1968. Credit: Bettmann / Contributor via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast I'd like to quickly tell you about some others. |
| 0:05.0 | My name's Andy Martin and I'm the editor of a team of podcast producers at the BBC in Northern Ireland. |
| 0:11.0 | It's a job I really love because we get to tell the stories that really matter |
| 0:15.1 | to people here, but which also resonate and apply to listeners around the world. |
| 0:19.6 | And because the team is such a diverse range of skills and strengths. We have trained journalists, people who love digging through archives, we've got drama and even comedy experts. We really can do those stories justice. |
| 0:31.3 | So if you like this podcast, head to BBC Sounds where you'll find |
| 0:34.9 | plenty more fascinating stories from all around the UK. |
| 0:48.0 | Thanks for downloading the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service. We're going back 56 years to a deadly government crackdown in Mexico City. |
| 0:54.0 | In 2011, Hulian Meeliorini spoke to a student protester who was there. |
| 1:00.0 | It's October 1968. |
| 1:02.0 | Ten days before the Olympic Games, students are demonstrating in Latello Square in Mexico City. |
| 1:08.0 | Suddenly, gunfire erupts. The military just surrounded the square, it was an oblong really, and there were gaps in it. |
| 1:22.0 | And the soldiers just went in and fired across. |
| 1:24.6 | I mean, they could have been shooting one another, quite frankly. |
| 1:28.0 | Do you remember the film, Butch Kettily and the Sundance kid, |
| 1:31.1 | the final scene of the shooting, but it's exactly like that. |
| 1:35.0 | I cannot pinpoint the very exact moment when I heard the first shot. |
| 1:41.0 | What I remember very clearly is that very soon, |
| 1:45.0 | the noise was unbearable. |
| 1:47.0 | It was like hearing a bomb exploring but continually. |
| 2:05.0 | The British journalist, John Rhoda and the Mexican poet David Huerta were both in the square that day. David was part of a peaceful protest movement led by students which had already staged marches |
| 2:11.2 | throughout the summer. Mexico had been awarded the Olympics because it was modernizing fast |
... |
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