Mexico’s president tenders apology for 1968 student massacre

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has tendered an apology over the  massacre of students by the army in 1968.

Recall that official document quoted that 30 people died when security forces opened fire at students holding a peaceful rally in the Tlatelolco district of Mexico City days before the country hosted the Olympic Games.

But relatives and activists faulted the figure, saying that around 400 people died.

At a news conference Sheinbaum said that a decree would be issued, describing the killings as a crime against humanity.

She said, “October 2nd will not be forgotten! Never again would the security forces be used to attack or repress the people of Mexico,” she promised, hours before a planned protest in Mexico City to demand justice for the victims of the massacre.

Sheinbaum was born to Bulgarian and Lithuanian Jewish migrants in Mexico City during the turmoil of the early 1960s when students and other activists were seeking to end the Institutional Revolutionary Party’s long grip on power.

Her mother lost her job as a university professor for denouncing the massacre.

Shortly after Sheinbaum’s remarks, thousands of people took part in a traditional annual demonstration in memory of the fallen students.

Some protesters, known as the “black bloc”, threw stones and firecrackers at police officers guarding the Zocalo, Mexico City’s main square and home to the presidential palace.

“It is not enough to apologise. We want justice… You can give apologies to your friends, but not to us who gave our lives to change this country,” said Oscar Menendez, 90, who was present at the 1968 tragedy.

Angel Rodriguez, 76, who also took part in the student movement, said the apology went some way in improving the relationship between people and the state.

“She was not obliged to offer that apology. It should have been previous presidents, immediately after the massacre,” Rodriguez said.

Sheinbaum took the reins of the nation where criminal violence, much of it linked to drug trafficking and gangs, had claimed more than 450,000 lives since 2006 — an issue she will address when she presents her security plan next week.

AFP