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Middle Earth various issues, 1967-1968

Page 7

Middle Earth page seven

MEXICO OLYMPICO == 68

   MEXICO CITY (LNS) Mexico Olympico is the graduation exercise of a Latin "Pygmalion" And everyone is holding their breath--hoping she will not fall on her face and reveal her bloody petticoats before the eyes of her international guests. Signs are all over the city, reminding her citizens that "Los ojos del mundo estan en Mexico." In other words, behave yourself!
   "The opening day of the Olympics was simply beautiful," sang a middle class Mexican woman. "I was so proud of our people. WE STARTED EXACTLY ON TIME!" (Like man, we'll show those anglos we can be just like them.) "Our people behaved themselves beautifully. Oh yes, we had a little disorder in our house, but it's all cleared up now."
   There are new buses, clean streets, colorful banners, clean-cut boys and girls who man tourist aid centers, and walls that once cried out in anger have been cleaned with new coats of paint. The blood is nearly all gone from Tlatelolco. And the door which was bazookaed off its hinges at Preparatoria Numero Uno has been cleaned of the blood of who knows how many (now dead) students who stood behind it. The dead are buried and "it's all cleaned up now."
   The billboards are all over Mexico proclaiming in words and pictures that, "Through peace, everything is possible." It is as though a Madison Avenue firm had been given the "peace" account. The campaign was incredible: nearly 50% of the city's billboards show white doves on variously colored backgrounds, laughing women, playing children, and singing workers. The doves of peace decorate everything: store windows, banks, gas stations, cars, and even some on the windowshields of motorcycle policemen. 
   "The students haven't seen half of what we can do yet," said a captain of the presidential guards to a correspondent. He was one of those responsible for what is now called the Massacre of Tlatelolco will seem like a picnic." 
   The nightmare of Tlatelolco is either a study of military stupidity or of 19th Century sadism. At 12 noon on October 2nd, the chief of Police Luis Cueto Ramirez told an Italian correspondant, "Madame, everything is resolved now. There will be no more fighting. It is all over." For days student activists had fanned out throughout the city telling people of a protest rally to be held at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas on October 2nd. The rally of the previous week had taken place unmolested, unmarked by violence. There was no reason for anyone to assume that the October rally would be anything different. 
   At 2:00 that afternoon, the Minister of the Interior, Luis Escheverria announced that the government was taking steps toward a peaceful solution to the turmoil in the city. 
   By 4:00 the supporters of the students began arriving at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. The movement had widespread support among the ordinary citizens--the middle class and the workers. The workers themselves had often been the victims of police brutality and repression. The middle class was upset because of the unprecedented violation of university autonomy. Many brought their families; even pregnant women were there. Children ran up and down the Plaza yelling at each other. It was a beautiful evening. 
   By 5:30 the cement was wet with blood--the ground littered with shoes, eye glasses and purses, pieces of children's clothing and the bodies of innumerable dead: men, women, and children. 
   Perhaps the events of October 2nd were not as much stupidity or sadism as they were a clue. The minister of the interior says one thing---the army does another. Perhaps all is not well with this Latin "Pygmalion" groomed with U.S. aid and public relations to be the showpiece for progress for other Latin states that might be tempted to take the Cuban road. 
   Restlessness and discontent have been building steadily. Add to this the Mexican student consciousness of the rebellions at Berkely, Columbia, and Paris, and you have some of the elements that ignited the movement. 
   It would be simple-minded and intellectually sloppy to say that either Diaz Ordaz or private financial interests or the army plotted the events of the last three months. It is perhaps more correct to say first of all that there are many pieces of the puzzle that just will not fit into one theory of "why" or "who". There were crazy, confused moments of reaction on the part of everyone involved...like when the grenaderos came shooting at Tlatelolco.
   It would seem as though the beginning of the whole thing--a clash between two schools--was normal enough. The violent repression of the army, including entering the schools themselves and smashing up of the classrooms, was perhaps just stupidity. But once the wheels started turning, everyone who had something to gain from the disruptions took his position and played definite (and sometimes not so definite) roles in aggravating the situation. At this point, it seems that the army and those militarists who hold office, such as the mayor of Mexico City, reaped the most benefits. 

[Illustration at the bottom]
I.M.Bandida
El Pueblo y solo el Pueblo es la Fuerza Motriz que hace la Historia.
The people and only the people comprise the motive force that makes history.

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Middle Earth page seven MEXICO OLYMPICO == 68 MEXICO CITY (LNS) Mexico Olympico is the graduation exercise of a Latin "Pygmalion" And everyone is holding their breath--hoping she will not fall on her face and reveal her bloody petticoats before the eyes of her international guests. Signs are all over the city, reminding her citizens that "Los ojos del mundo estan en Mexico." In other words, behave yourself! "The opening day of the Olympics was simply beautiful," sang a middle class Mexican woman. "I was so proud of our people. WE STARTED EXACTLY ON TIME!" (Like man, we'll show those anglos we can be just like them.) "Our people behaved themselves beautifully. Oh yes, we had a little disorder in our house, but it's all cleared up now." There are new buses, clean streets, colorful banners, clean-cut boys and girls who man tourist aid centers, and walls that once cried out in anger have been cleaned with new coats of paint. The blood is nearly all gone from Tlatelolco. And the door which was bazookaed off its hinges at Preparatoria Numero Uno has been cleaned of the blood of who knows how many (now dead) students who stood behind it. The dead are buried and "it's all cleaned up now." The billboards are all over Mexico proclaiming in words and pictures that, "Through peace, everything is possible." It is as though a Madison Avenue firm had been given the "peace" account. The campaign was incredible: nearly 50% of the city's billboards show white doves on variously colored backgrounds, laughing women, playing children, and singing workers. The doves of peace decorate everything: store windows, banks, gas stations, cars, and even some on the windowshields of motorcycle policemen. "The students haven't seen half of what we can do yet," said a captain of the presidential guards to a correspondent. He was one of those responsible for what is now called the Massacre of Tlatelolco will seem like a picnic." The nightmare of Tlatelolco is either a study of military stupidity or of 19th Century sadism. At 12 noon on October 2nd, the chief of Police Luis Cueto Ramirez told an Italian correspondant, "Madame, everything is resolved now. There will be no more fighting. It is all over." For days student activists had fanned out throughout the city telling people of a protest rally to be held at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas on October 2nd. The rally of the previous week had taken place unmolested, unmarked by violence. There was no reason for anyone to assume that the October rally would be anything different. At 2:00 that afternoon, the Minister of the Interior, Luis Escheverria announced that the government was taking steps toward a peaceful solution to the turmoil in the city. By 4:00 the supporters of the students began arriving at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. The movement had widespread support among the ordinary citizens--the middle class and the workers. The workers themselves had often been the victims of police brutality and repression. The middle class was upset because of the unprecedented violation of university autonomy. Many brought their families; even pregnant women were there. Children ran up and down the Plaza yelling at each other. It was a beautiful evening. By 5:30 the cement was wet with blood--the ground littered with shoes, eye glasses and purses, pieces of children's clothing and the bodies of innumerable dead: men, women, and children. Perhaps the events of October 2nd were not as much stupidity or sadism as they were a clue. The minister of the interior says one thing---the army does another. Perhaps all is not well with this Latin "Pygmalion" groomed with U.S. aid and public relations to be the showpiece for progress for other Latin states that might be tempted to take the Cuban road. Restlessness and discontent have been building steadily. Add to this the Mexican student consciousness of the rebellions at Berkely, Columbia, and Paris, and you have some of the elements that ignited the movement. It would be simple-minded and intellectually sloppy to say that either Diaz Ordaz or private financial interests or the army plotted the events of the last three months. It is perhaps more correct to say first of all that there are many pieces of the puzzle that just will not fit into one theory of "why" or "who". There were crazy, confused moments of reaction on the part of everyone involved...like when the grenaderos came shooting at Tlatelolco. It would seem as though the beginning of the whole thing--a clash between two schools--was normal enough. The violent repression of the army, including entering the schools themselves and smashing up of the classrooms, was perhaps just stupidity. But once the wheels started turning, everyone who had something to gain from the disruptions took his position and played definite (and sometimes not so definite) roles in aggravating the situation. At this point, it seems that the army and those militarists who hold office, such as the mayor of Mexico City, reaped the most benefits. [Illustration at the bottom] I.M.Bandida El Pueblo y solo el Pueblo es la Fuerza Motriz que hace la Historia. The people and only the people comprise the motive force that makes history.