Part of the Audio History Project Series

In the summer of 1968, students in Mexico began to challenge the country’s authoritarian government. But the movement was short-lived, lasting less than three months. It ended October 2, 1968, ten days before the opening of the Olympics in Mexico City, when military troops opened fire on a peaceful student demonstration. The shooting lasted over two hours. The next day the government sent in cleaners to wash the blood from the plaza floor. The official announcement was that four students were dead, but eyewitnesses said hundreds were killed. The death toll was not the only thing the government covered up.

The Massacre of Tlatelolco has become a defining moment in Mexican history, but for forty years the truth of that day has remained hidden.

Web Special: Learn more about the Massacre of Tlatelolco.