Echeverria took office in 1970 and led six of the toughest years of the so-called “dirty war” against dissidents
The former president of Mexico Luis Echeverríawho took office in 1970, promising a democratic opening for the country, but presided over six of the toughest years of the so-called “dirty war” according to dissenters, he died at the age of 100.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed the death today, expressing his condolences to Echeverría’s family.
As an elderly man, Echeverría avoided attempts by Mexican prosecutors to charge him with genocide for his role in two notorious massacres of student protesters in 1968 and 1971 that defined an era of brutal state repression.
Bald and bespectacled, Echeverría denied any wrongdoing and said his conscience was clear. He refused to testify about crimes that have not been fully solved to this day.
His presidency (1970-1976) was marred from the start by accusations that he ordered the military to open fire on thousands of students peacefully demonstrating in the Tlatelolco district of Mexico City on October 2, 1968 while he was minister of the interior.
At that time, the Govt he said only 30 people were killed and were injured in the massacre, which took place just days before the start of the Olympic Games in Mexico City. Witnesses said several more bodies were removed from the scene.
Hundreds of students were beaten and jailed after the demonstration, which came as student uprisings had erupted around the world. A definitive death toll was never given.
RES-EMP
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