STUDENT DISTURBANCES IN MEXICO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03061A000400030020-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 19
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 14, 2000
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: October 5, 1968
• Content Type: REPORT

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October 1968
MEXICAN STUDENT DISORDERS
A series of student disorders that broke out in Mexico on 26 July
may eventually be transformed into a significant mass movement with
broad political implications. The violence that broke out in downtown
Mexico City on 26 July occurred after several hundred Communist youth,
who were celebrating the anniversary of the Cuban revolution, merged with
a separate, larger student group that had received permission to protest
police intervention in a technical students' demonstration a few days
earlier.
According to the Mexican government, the Communists took over the
merged group and there followed three days of rioting and destruction
which ended with the calling up of army troops and, in what is generally
agreed as over-reaction on the part of government, the use of harsh,
repressive measures against the students. School buildings were broken
into to flush out the more rebellious students and there was a widely
publicized incident of a bazooka being fired into the doorway of a
preparatory school. Many students were hurt and many were arrested,
including a number of known leftists. The police reportedly raided the
office of the Mexican Communist Party where they confiscated propgganda
aimed at inciting students to riot. However, rather than quelling the
student unrest, the army and riot squad action led to the organization
of some 150,000 university and preparatory school students into a strike
movement that was effective in closing schools and university facilities.
Following the riots of late July, the security forces were instructed
to allow the students to demonstrate and march without interference,
probably in the hope that the students would tire of their cause and
return to their studies. But instead of easing off, the students staged
two huge, though peaceful, demonstrations, one of some 150,000 on 13 Aug-
ust and another of an estimated 200,000 on 27 August, when they occupied
the main square and the national cathedral of Mexico City and raised the
black and red flag of anarchy in place of the Mexican flag. Many Mexi-
cans formerly sympathetic to the students were reported to have been
offended by this demonstration and by the unprecedented personal and
vulgar attacks made on the President. Following several violent clashes
between students and security forces on the day after the second huge
rally, the government once again decided to use whatever force was ne-
cessary to restore order and the violence soon abated. At the time of
the second rally, however, there was evident uneasiness in Mexico City
in the public confusion and panic buying that followed rumors of short
supplies of food and gasoline. Following publication of an open, insult-
ing letter, from'the students' strike committee to the President, which
also threatened to disrupt the Olympics, the President ordered military
occupation of the National University on 18 September, thereby carrying
out his promise to use force to maintain order. Javier Barros Sierra,
the university rector, has resigned in protest against what he termed
an "excessive act of force." More violence has followed, including one
all-night gun battle, that has resulted in some dozen or more student
deaths and more arrests of students, teachers and sympathizers. What-
ever interludes of calm prevail are at best uneasy.
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Student and Government Positions
The students have felt that the government has been unresponsive to
their demands, which are now codified in six points set forth by the Na-
tional Strike Council, the group that acts on the students' behalf. It
is made up of several factions, including left-extremists, and is advised
by a group of prominent leftist professors and intellectuals, The six
points include: freedom for "political prisoners"; repeal of the subver-
sion law; elimination of riot squads; firing of the top Mexico City po-
lice officials; indemnity to "victims and survivors of police and army
brutality"; and punishment of officials who "unconstitutionally intervened
in this conflict,"
In his annual state of the union message on 1 September, President
Diaz Ordaz expressed the need to keep dissidence within legal bounds and
declared that excesses would not be tolerated. He reaffirmed the princi-
ple of university autonomy and denied it had been violated during the
riots.: He ignored many of the student demands while making some conces-
sions. Although he disclaimed any knowledge of cases involving "politi-
cal prisoners," he offered to free immediately any such persons whose
cases might be brought to his attention. He suggested congressional
hearings on possible changes in Article 14+5 of the criminal code which
defines the crime of "social dissolution" under which so-called politi-
cal prisoners are held, and these hearings have apparently already started.
The student groups, now divided between "moderates" and "militants"
over prolonging the strike, rejected the government's response to their
demands, and on 13 September they held a silent protest march which at-
tracted a reported 75,000-100,000 participants, or about half the number
that marched in the August demonstrations. There were no incidents of
disorder and no interference by security forces. President Diaz Ordaz
has made it unmistakably clear he would use all legal means to stop pub-
lic disorders or any attempts to sabotage the Olympic Games, scheduled
to open on 12 October.
The One-Party System
Although the political establishment of Mexico has been unnerved
by these riots, the student sector would need widespread support, includ-
ing the labor and peasant sectors, to pose a serious threat to the na-
tion's stability. To date these groups have given no indication of
active sympathetic support, although there have been recent indications
that some slum dwellers have joined the students' cause. Both labor and
peasants are politically unsophisticated, compared to the student groups,
and both form important segments of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary
Party (:PRI) within which they are closely controlled.
The PRI has ruled Mexico since the 1910 revolution, has successfully
provided for smooth transitions of power and for reconciling conflicting
economic interests of various population sectors. Nevertheless, it has
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become monolithic and monopolistic, and since the students represent a
more sophisticated and non--conformist group, they have become impatient
with the rate of progress and have periodically rebelled. They feel the
PRI has long since ceased to be "revolutionary," has not kept pace with
the times and is too much in the shadow of its large powerful neighbor
to the north. They point out that only token opposition parties are
allowed to exist and these are denied any meaningful political life
through all possible means, including fraudulent election practices.
They also complain of the government's methods in the areas of press
censorship and the administration of justice. Now, in addition, many
students view the PRI as a vehicle of repression and intolerance, al-
though President Diaz Ordaz himself is considered a political moderate
who stands for legality and peaceful interplay of political forces.
Issue of University Autonomy
Part of the resentment against the allegedly unnecessary brutality
by the police and armed forces is based on the issue of university au-
tonomy, a firmly established principle in Latin American universities by
which virtually all prerogatives in university academic and administra-
tive matters are reserved to a governing council, made up of student,
faculty and graduate representatives, and which gives the university
freedom from governmental interference. These factors, together with
the role of the university as a melting pot for the formation of politi-
cal ideas, have led students to consider it as a privileged sanctuary.
In recent years, however, a number of Latin American governments have
not hesitated to limit the extent of university autonomy, when it was
believed necessary, in order to end student-inspired violence. The
Mexican government has taken the position that autonomy is neither the
same as extra-territoriality nor does it mean that a school and its
students are free from law enforcement.
The university system is largely a result of the reform movement,
aimed at democratization of the university, that began in 1918 in Cordoba,
Argentina, from which it subsequently spread throughout most of Latin
America. The system of higher education that developed from the Cordoba
reform has generally failed to meet the needs of Latin American society
since academic standards are low, administration is too decentralized
and ineffective, there is a continuing lack of trained personnel and
funds to meet the needs of the growing student body and a sense of aca-
demic community is non-existent. In the case of the National Autonomous
University of Mexico (UNAM), faculty members admit that it offers a low
level of education and operates with a low budget, resulting in inade-
quate laboratories, techpical equipment and teaching resources. Of the
faculty numbering 7,000 in 1967, only 145 were full-time and 150 half-
time. The rest were professional people who volunteered as instructors
when they could.
In addition to its essential nature as a protest against professors'
incompetence and obsolete curricula, the Cordoba movement represented a
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type of nationalistic urge to escape European influence and develop
specifically Latin American universities. This, combined with increasing
social tensions over the years, has encouraged a tradition of revolt a-
gainst established authority and has led students to consider themselves
as the vanguard of reform. The! Mexican students feel that the revolu-
tionary -- and left-leaning -- tradition of such leaders as Zapata, Villa
and Cardenas died in the Aleman administration of 19+6-1952, and that
the reactionary banking, industrial and commercial interests run the
country, with little concern for the peasants, the unskilled workers and
the students.
Communists' Role
While the students of Latin America are generally leftist in their
views and their university system facilitates Communist infiltration and
domination, much of what is frequently labelled' as Communist is often
a nationalistic manifestation against foreign economic and political
influence. Yet, like the young intelligentsia of other Latin American
countries, Mexican students have long been a major target for Communist
subversion. Widespread political and social unrest, combined with the
system of university autonomy, has faciliated Communist efforts to ex-
ploit the highly vocal and susceptible student sector. Extreme leftists
have been able to pose as champions of nationalistic solutions to prob-
lems of overriding interest'to the student body, and have repeatedly
succeeded in drawing support to their cause on these specific issues.
Also, Communist success among students has often been the result of more
effective organization in situations where democratic forces have been
disunited or apathetic.
In spite of the Mexican government's public accusation of Communist
elements backed by the Soviet and Cuban embassies, as the instigators
of the disturbances, it was clear that many of the student participants
were not under Communist control and that a majority did not participate
in the demonstrations. While it is fairly certain that members of the
group celebrating Castro's revolution on 26 July did manage to take over
the larger studezit demonstration that had been authorized by the govern-
ment, the importance of the role subsequently played by Communist ele-
ments in the disturbances is ntt clear, nor is the degree of involvement
of the Soviet or Cuban embassies. It is certain that besides the known
Communists involved in the agitation, numerous extreme leftist groups,
including among others Trotskyites, Maoists and followers of Guevara,
helped to ignite the protest and to keep it alive by capitalizing on
such emotion packed issues as police brutality and violation of univer-
sity autonomy.
Conclusion
Whether the student rebellion will, in effect, become a genuine
political movement, will be determined by future developments. There
are rumors that an organizational meeting will, be held the end of
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The Student Revolt In Mexico
Mexico City.
A Mexican President's state-of-
the-union message, delivered before
Congress annually as in the United
States, is usually a routine speech
largely filled with facts and figures
on national progress and of interest
primarily to business men, econo-
mists and politicians. Since the
date, September 1, is declared a
national holiday, the average Mexi-
can doesn't bother listening to his
President but goes off somewhere
to relax.
This year It was different. "Juan
Pueblo"-as John Q. Public is
known here-stayed at home -glued
to his radio or TV set anxiously
.fastening onto the President's every
word. Of course the President, Gus-
tavo Diaz Ordaz, made the usual
fact-filled report on the year's
progrpss-and impressive it was In
most: respects-but that was not
what.; the people waited to hear.
What Interested them was only the
final quarter of the three-hour
speech, for in It Diaz Ordaz dealt
with the country's newest and
scariest problem: a series of stu-
dent disturbances which had rocked
this capital until the eve of his
message.
The world-wide student revolt had
finally reached Mexico, and since
By DANIEL JAMES
Mexico's record for stability. And What had caused the student
it was a stability, moreover, com- eruption? Nearly everyone here
bined with phenomenal economic confesses to ignorance of the pre-
progress. cise origins. All that is known Is
Then,' suddenly, on July 26 Mexi- that the violence itself began not
co was shattered out of its com- with students ranged against the
placency by a series of violent stu- Establishment, as elsewhere, but
dent riots that, save for brief lulls,. against other students! On July 22,
continued into July 31. rival student groups from a voca-
The riots ranged over the political tional and a preparatory school
and commercial heart of the capi- clashed. Next day, further fighting
tai in the downtown area surround- between them broke out and the
ing the well-known Zocalo-the In granaderos-Mexico City's special
dian name given to the huge Plaza riot police armed with tear-gas
de la Constitution-where the Na- grenades-intervened t.o prevent
tional Palace and other Govern- them from maiming' and' killing
ment buildings, the Metropolitan each other.
Cathedral, and numerous stores, . Inevitably, the police committed
offices, banks and other business excesses, bruised some heads and
enterprises are located, bodies, and with that students all
The youthful rioters seized and over town took up the cry: "police
burned buses and frequently used' brutality!"
them to barricade themselves in The vocational- students' parent
given blocks, hurled rocks at shops, body, the National Federation of
office buildings and passenger Technical Students (FNET) con-'
autos, and fought police with Molo- netted with the National Polytech-
tov cocktails, stones, and lengths nical Institute, decided to organize
of steel pipe. At one point, they a protest for July 26. July 26, as it
nearly succeeded in raiding a gun- happens, marked the fifteenth anni-
shop-hut that disaster was narrow- versary of Fidel Castro's assault on
ly averted. Moncada Barracks in Santiago,
On July 29, a conference of the Cuba, which'initiated his revolution-
Minister of Interior, Attorney Gen-! ary career and produced the July
eral and city mayor decided that 26 Movement. To commemorate the
the police could no longer cope with event the Mexican Communist
its outbreak in late July the nation the mounting violence and disorder, party
tiie Juventud Comunista-its
,
had been gripped by fear and alarm and called out the Army. Eight youth arm-and like-minded groups
unknown in its recent history. The infantry battalions, a motorized of Castro sympathizers planned a
Government itself, normally coin- squadron and a paratrooper unit rally in the Alameda-the capital's
posed', sometimes became very were thrown into action. "Central Park."
jittery as student demonstrations That same day saw the' worst. As the FNET describes what hap-
involving hundreds of thousands of rioting on record. Students seized pened, in a formal statement it
:participants threatened to disrupt an area of several blocks around Issued on July 29, its own demon-
thispapital's.life completely-much the Plaza Ciudadela, around which stration was infested with "extrem-
as their French counterparts had are a cluster of preparatory, ist groups which devoted them-
disrupted Paris last May. schools, and barricaded themselves,
selves systematically to sabotag-
? in. Soldiers forcibly entered some ing" it, and specifically cited
The worst`of it'was that It had of the prep schools, and are said to "recognized Trotskyites." These
happened at the most inopportune have blasted their way into one of elements "incited a group of stu
moment: the eve of the XIX Olym?, them with a bazooka.
pie Games, which are scheduled to Next day Mexico Citians and for dents"-estimated to number about
open here October 12. ents and tourists could '500-to join the pro-Castro July 26
Until July 26, the date of the first einotn residents their eyes when they meeting and "led them into a clash
violent clash, Mexico had generally saw soldiers in battle dress with with the police."
been considered a Gibraltar of so- bayonets fixed patroling the beau- All told, an estimated 188 stu-
cial, political and economic sta- tiful tree-lined Paseo de la Re- dent rioters were detained by
bility. She was the envy not only forma, the boulevard modeled after police and hundreds of others in.
of sister Latin American nations the Champs EI sees, and armored te ed. Most have been re-
but also of those in Asia and Africa y leased, , but some-the number is
cars and other military vehicles unknown-are still being held and
as well. For that matter, apart rumbling about the Zocalo and
from perhaps Switzerland and the other ke points. Nothing like it are under indictment.
Scandinavian countries, no Euro- y g What has been the objective of
had been seen in a generation or
pean c the Communists in helping stir up
ountry was able to match
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 CPYRGHT
tlve, it is almos unanimously the even more electric issue of via the exploitation of it by the
agreed, was to try to prevent the latic.n of university autonomy when Communist crouns.
The primary IA Ve6li ft,- Relt09*T0O/ /11Tt MA-R1078-030&1i OOG4OiOO8)OO0e4it and
of apolitical students into an angry
Maoists and other shades of tom
munists. The issue of "police bru-
tality" galvanized many thousands
But it would be erroneous to ate!
Games might well have been can-
celed, for therules of the Interna-
tional Olympic Committee state
that they may not be held If, some
40 days before their scheduled
opening, there Is disorder in the,,
host country.
Cancellation would have been a
severe blow at Mexico's world pres-
tige, and, of more tangible jrm
portance, at her pocketbook. The
country has some $2 billion invested
in the Olympics, the loss of which
might have wrecked her budget.
Add to that further losses in income
from tourists and investors scared
,off by repeated violence, and one
,can see that the Communists were,
'aiming at nothing less than Mexi,,
:'do's economic solar plexus.
Had the violence continued, the
.Saturday Review
1.7 August 1968
EATiN AMERICA
several schools and occupied them.
. . .
University autonomy-the right
of institutions of higher learning
to run their academic and admin-
istrative affairs without interfer-
ence from the state-has been a
sacred cow in Mexico since it was
achieved in 1929. It is so not only
to the 90,000 students of the Na-
tional Autonomous University of
Mexico and the approximately 50,-
000 of the Polytechnical Institute,
but also to professors, to alumni,
and to nearly everybody who is
anybody here.
Thus the "revolt" has now be-
come a political movement. In-
deed, seventeen different student
and alumni groups have decided to
form a new "youth party," and.
have scheduled an "assembly of
the new fatherland" for September
26-28 to found it.
Thus is exposed a serious under
current of discontent-fairly gener:
al discontent, one may add-behind
the student movement, which goes
his annual message to Congress
that the Olympic Games will be
held, and few doubt they will be.
The scheduled October 12 opening
remains as is, plans are moving
ahead for two weeks of athletic
and cultural events, and visitors
from all over the world are already
arriving.
It is as certain as anything can
be that there will be no violence
during that period, and probably
not even a peaceful and orderly stu-
dent demonstration. After one that
is scheduled for September 11 call.
ing far a "dialogue" with the Gov-
ernment, a moratorium will prob-
ably be declared until after the
Olympics.
In any case, a stern-faced Mexi-
can President has warned that he
will exercise whenever strictly
necessary the powers vested in him
to call out the armed forces under
Article 89 of the Constitution, to
insure "internal security."
... BELS WITHOUT ALLIES
By LUIGI EINAUDI, staff ?mem- were responding to a specific tradition time the central tenet of the University
her, Tice RAND Corporation, and that identifies them as the guardians of Reform Movenment-was student parti-
lecturer in political science, the Uni- social ideals against the compromises of cipation in the administration of the
versity of California at Los Angeles. the past and the partisanship of special university. Proponents of reform argued
interests. Such a heritage must be acted that this would introduce to the clois-
r 7iwO months ago, street clashes be- upon. Said one militant about the dem- tered "havens of mediocrity" a hunger
twee" students and police erupted onstrations of June 1968, "No one can for contemporary knowledge as well as
?=~- in five Argentine cities. In Buenos accuse us of being bureaucratic about a sensitivity to the needs of a more just
Aires the fumes of inolotov cocktails and the 50th anniversary of the University society.
tear-gas bombs mh glcd to produce the Reform." The movement spread rapidly through
heady atmosphere of revolution and re- Precisely fifty years earlier, in mid- Latin America's cosmopolitan elite, and
presi;ion. A nationwide boycott of classes June 1918, students at Cordoba, Argen- adaptations of the Cordoba Manifesto
to protest the imposition of new univer- tina's oldest uiversity, had proclaimed had affected most countries within the
silty regulations by the government of that universities throughout Latin Amer- decade, Article 143 of the 1945 Ecuador-
Gcneral Juan Carlos Ongania had also ica had become "faithful images of our ian Constitution, for instance, described
culminated in numerous injuries and ar- decadent societies, sad spectacles of the re/ormista utopia: "The universities
rests the week before. senile immobility." In rapid succession are autonomous ... and will particularly
"Like the Revolutionary Youth of they denounced their professors as in- attend to the 'study and resolution of
France we are fighting for workers' and tellectual invalids, their libraries and national problems and the spread of cul-
people's unity," read one banner carried research facilities as notable chiefly for ture among the popular classes."
by student demonstr: ators along Avenida their absence, and their curricula as ,
Ciirdoba. Unlike tl'ucir counterparts in "characterized by a narrow dogmatism `=--rVER since the founding of the first
France or the United States, however, which contributes to the insulation of "Royal and Pontifical universities in
Argentine students and their similarly the university from science and modern Peru and Mexico in 1551, a few large
arrive peers elsewhere in Latin Am r a lemming." The env to c institutions have dominated higher ed-
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 l1Cation 171
rOQWWF,? rNeS 2010 i ~itlltein Tiemispllcr $~ E t17J~'P)~O fl?r 2$iltiibutedlmoresttoethc so-
independence emcr C rom co onia status,
independence reaffirmed the power of time when students in Latin America cial exclusiveness of ruling elites than to
the state over the church, but did not have been relatively quiescent. Despite the education of the new skilled masses
notably increase the relevance of the uni- recent demonstrations, today's activists of industrial society. Although the nunl-
versities to their environments. Around are less prominent than their predeces- ber of university students in Latin Amer-
monastic patios in aging buildings, vir-, sors who, a decade ago, played key roles ica has doubled in the past decade,
tually autonomous facuiuics offered in- in the chain of political upheavals which allowing for differences in size of popu-
shuction in the learned professions, with began with the fall of Peron in Argen- lation and age groups, the United states
little general education and almost no tina, continued through the assassi- still has more than a dozen times as
postgraduate training. For the most part, nation, resignation, or overthrow of many students. This actually understates
neither students nor professors were dictators in Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela, the difference, since many more Ameri-
pi?csent full-time, and the irrclevcr.:ce and Colombia, and culminated with the can students receive degrees than do
of the university to modern learning was collapse of Batista in Cuba. Even the Latin American students.
matched only by its penury. It is small student guerrillas of three or four years Latin American universities have tra-
v, r,i;der that by 1918 the students were ago are less and less common. Can it be ditionally provided the urbane political
demanding reform-sometimes violently. that while we are becoming more Latin leadership for largely agrarian societies.
The intervening fifty years have Americanized, they are becoming more Unable to control fully the generous inl-
brought substantial changes in some Americanized? pulses of youthful idealism toward soli-
areas, but striking continuities' remain, 1I) darity with those whose exclusion the
many of them inherent in Latin Ameri- .1 ARTLY, of course, the paradox is a elitism of the university was helping to
can conditions. At the University of false one. The idea that political violence perpetuate, this system occasionally led
Ilavona in 1960, for instance, students anti mob demonstrations are as much a
issued a critique reminiscent of the part of the rites of passage for Latin peasant explosions 'which, like the groat deal l of
of
Cordoba Manifesto. In a startling jux- American students a8 were panty raids p signs , m de a taposition, which nonetheless beauti- for American students is a hasty gener- `noisy but t signified t ootthih
coherent Chi111Cn+4,'e f0 this nothing. 5 The d major
I)1'Gl11nf1C1'll
fully c,. ,ycd the emotions of the alization. Most studies of Latin American system, the University Ilefc)rnt Move-
moment, Lacy concluded by denouncing student opinion and behavior suggest meat, was essentially a protest which
the university authorities as "the great that they are neither particularly radical d the inability of students to cony
landowners of culture." Harassed admin- nor particularly active. But this also de- assumed
with the r^
istrators admitted many deficiencies, but scribes Berkeley and Columbia. The in- municate general population
pointed out that the nearby University activity of most does not, we know, but hoped to modernize society through
the
authority.
of Puerto Rico, certainly not a wealthy prevent others from playing major roles Studuseen nts attending governmental
public blic universities
t
institution by U.S. standards, had nearly in the political turmoil of theirrespective government
ten times the income per student. As 1 in societies with expanding governme societies. What is really wrong, with our bureaucracies have at their disposal
this example implies, problems of higher apparent paradox is that it omits con- the means for influencing government
education are enormously complicated sidcration of the traditions and roles of policies at a much earlier stage than
by political pressures. If the universities institutions and persons acting under,
would be true in the United States. Mill-
have often been marginal in fulfilling very different historical circumstances.:,
iters educational and social needs, they have Latin American universities, though fsor i: Stuui education are expose cd targets
f~lciit prolcsis'wliich caul thus be
bo
nearly always been central to politics. they have multiplied in recent years and. translated almost automatically into cabi-
Viewed from the United States, this has assumed greater superficial similarities; net instability. Strikes may also affect the
all seemed pretty chaotic. Latin Anierica to U.S. institutions, have little in common functioning of public agencies in which
has to most North Americans long sym- with the American university tradition. students are working while attending
bolizcd political instability and student Fundamental differences are often classes in the evening. Outstanding po-
riots. In the wake of recent events in the masked for casual observers by similari- litical activists are quickly absorbed into
United States, however, these matters ties in the physical expression of griev- ?iclult )olitical party structu,'es even if
now seen} less exotic. Previously compla- antes leading to violent conflicts on titc)r do not begin as children of the
cent American university administrators university grounds. Youthful elan, the ruling elite. At the same time, student
are rumored to have sought p7'ofessfonal economic and personal freedom implicit activism allows for the expression of
advice from their Latin American col- in minimal family responsibilities, and dissent that alight be threatening in
leagues on the best means of coping student quickness to perceive the dis- other forms, but which in the university
with student activism and violence. Nor parities between social ideals and per- environment often becomes a necessary
have worried conservatives been the only formance all combine nearly everywhere means of importing new developments
ones struck by seeming parallels. An old to produce a potential for demonstra- and aspirations from the industrialized
friend remarked recently thathe was sad- tions that occasionally erupt beyond the centers of the world.
dcncd by the appearance on American sanctuary of the universities and strike
campuses of undercover police agents with sudden violence at the societies A PERUSAL of student literature and
disguised as students, a phenomenon themselves. Confrontations between stu- even of Latin American commentaries
with which he and I had first become dents and police, mediated or activated do U.S. student activities reveals similar
acquainted in Latin America in the by various third parties-including ad-language and even a similar delineation
mid-1950s. Are American universities ministrators, faculty, and politicians-in- of issues. But whereas militant students
becoming increasingly Latin American- evitably follow common patterns and are in the United States and France are to-
izcd? The students of the United States often provoked by similar immediate day questioning the value of imposing
-and their French colleagues-certainly issues. oi' eves} seeking a completely rational
seem bent upon shaking their univer- r 7n struoture for society, Latin American
sities and societies to the very foun- ..HIS increasingly familiar script students are still much closer to the opti-
dations. should not be allowed to obscure the fact mism of the Enli Ylitenment. This differ-
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 CPY
ofi seehinen
ici 1Instll`e l'i thc Case r'3~ t' ery 1 1t Pe c -O tf illtd.sThe stue
race and poverty. The universities are following year as The Trip, In 1962, the And if there is no effective, modern es-
no longer immune. .Events at Columbia Peruvian Federation of Students (FEP) tablishment in Latin America, it must be
had some echo in Harlem. Black student held a verse competition. Heraud's third built, Unlike the students of the indus-
athletes are increasingly unwilling to be book won the prize. Later that year, he trialized northern hemisphere, who often
ozp1oltod in ways whtch offend their left for Cuba oil, a government scholar- seem nihilistic in their rejection of adults
dignity and sense of solidarity. No such ship to study cinematography, and the adult world, many students in
individual link for the transmission of On May 3, 1963, he re-entered Peru Latin America seem to be seeking an
tension between university and disad- clandestinely from Bolivia,* by canoe, outlet to an expanded modern world,
vantagcd society exists in Latin America. armed, in the company of six other stu- even at the cost of accommodation with
The Indian peasant, by definition Latin dents, apparently hoping to link up with their elders.
America's traditional outsider, cannot at- Hugo Blanco's rapidly weakening at- Given some of the contemporary
tend a university. The son of an Indian tempts to organize peasant leagues trends in the universities, the goals of
peasant, should he matricula to, ceases by among the Quechua Indians near Cuzco. the students may require only a mora-
that very act to be either Indian or peas- On May 14, the small group of would-be torium on ideals, not their betrayal. De-
ant. His new culture qualifies him ra- guerrillas arrived, exhausted, in Puerto spite political turmoil and institutional
cially as a mestizo just as surely as if he Maldonado-a border town of about 600 rigidities, the old educational forms la of
had, in the sixteenth century, bought -and checked into a small pension. "classics for aristocrats" has declined
a certificate from the King of Spain at- Alerted to the arrival of strangers, a ser- even in the historic public universities,
testing to his lightness of skin. Sinful- geant from the local guard post sought where new faculties are turning out as
tancously, his status as universitario ,hem out to ask for papers. When these cOuntants, physicists, and members of
automatically leads to absorption into the were not in order, he asked the young other modern professions.
slowly expanding modern urban world, men to accompany him to the station
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many sectors of the student movement
associate the machine, and the teclnio-
logical society it symbolizes, as readily
with evil as with good. On occasion,
as in the case of the air we breathe and
the computer cards of the registrar's of-
fice, it stems as though everything has
gone out of control and man is now ser-
vant to the machine. In Latin America,
where the problems of underdevelop-
rnent and of the burdens of human labor
are still very much in evidence, the 'ma-
Caine is still the symbol of hope and
progress, of man's control over nature
and his limitless future, as it was for the
odcr generation in the United States.
Differences in time and place alter
perspectives on other apparently com-
iron issues as well. Anti-Communism
seems to be increasingly seen as a stale
political residue of a prior age. But
whereas in the United States this has
come as a gradual change from what had
been a general consensus, in Latin Amer-
ica anti-Colnmunisrn, although fervently
supported by defenders of traditional-
ism, was never generally accepted as a
dominant political myth ? among intel-
lectuals. In underdeveloped countries,
therefore, anti-Communism tends to
confuse the rivalries of distant great
powers with problems of local social and
political change. As a. result, today, while
tl ie new American left is still in the full
flower of its discovery of the irrelevance
of both Communism and anti-Commu-
nism, Latin American students have al-
ready moved beyond, after an interlude
of Cuban-inspired guerrilla adventures,
to a new political era.
This is best Scen oil issues Of SOCial
justice. Ill the United States today, there
is an element of urgency, even of threat
and potential violence, associated with
entered an American university, he dents fled for the river, pausing at the
literally turned white, and therefore boardinghouse only long enough to pick
could no longer belong to Negro society. up their guns. By nightfall, however, the
For a while, in the early days of ficlcl- youths had all been captured, with the
ismo, violent revolution led by middle- exception of Javier Heraud, who was
class student activists seemed on the dead at twenty-one of wounds inflicted
verge of successfully spanning the chasm by dumdum bullets from a local towns-
between urban modernity and rural tra- man's rifle,
ditionalism. In country after country, r t
between 1960 and 1963 and sporad. ..HIS social isolation of the youthful
ically since then, students went out in an quasi-elite in traditional society is very
effort to setup rural guerrilla movements difficult to understand for the American
to emulate what they thought was the with his images of equality and revolu-
example set by Castro and Che Guevara. tion. There is a great distance between
In country after country, unable even to the realization that conditions in Latin
communicate with the peasant popula- America fall short of these ideals and
tions among 'which they were moving, finding means fordoing something about
they were either wiped out, starved to it. The silence of students today, how-
death, or forced into ineffective under- ever, stems less from repression or fear
grounds where they were kept alive for, of death than from a lack of political
the purposes of international and na- optimism. Dozens of Indian languages
tional politics by forces with no interest and local subcultures are only the most
in their cause. obvious obstacles to effective national
The late Peruvian dramatist, Scbas-? action. Not for nothing did Bolivar conn-
tian Salazar Bondy, once drew my atten- plain he had ploughed the sea. But even
lion to one of his students, whose fate those who feel this is an unjust world,
symbolizes that terrible period. Javier dominated by the United States with the
Heraud was born the third child and complicity of the Soviet Union, suspect
second son of a successful lawyer in the that to try to do something about it is'
Lima suburb of Miraflores. He studied likely only to make matters worse. The
first in a Jesuit primary school, then negative results of May in Paris-when
attended the expensive and exclusive the attempt to break the hold of General
Markham school where he excelled in de Gaulle laid the basis for the political
sports and literature, graduating second death of Pierre Mendcs-Francc-were
in his class. While studying in the Fac- long ago perceived in Latin America.
ulty of Letters of the Catholic University When all odds are against one, the only
in Lima, he also taught English in the sane solution is to cultivate one's garden.
public secondary schools. In 1960, he But is there a garden to cultivate? The
published a small book of poems, The perception of Latin America that is so
River. The some year, he wo:: first prize common in the United States would sug-
in the "Young Poet of Peru" competition gest, rather, a state of deepening crisis
sponsored by the magazine Cuadernos with revolution around the corner. I sus-
Trimestrales do Poesia of Trujillo (Peru). pect otherwise. When the establishment
The prize collection was published the cannot be beaten, it is time to join it.
 LSO, since the beginning of the re-
form movement, the desire to avoid the
political problems, penury, and resis-
tance to change of the large national
universities has contributed, to the emer-
gence of numerous new institutions
which have served to diversify higher
education and make it more relevant to
;America's modern development.
Technical schools, such as the military
academies of Peru and Argentina, have
been supplemented by new or expanded
engineering universities, while Catholic
universities have'provided stability and
occasional foreign contacts. During the
last decade, there has been a virtual ex=
plosion of new institutions, including
agricultural and technical schools, pri-
vate nonsectarian universities for the
wealthy, and even private medical and
TIME
27 September 1968
business schools.
These changes in higher education
reflect gradual economic changes as well
as continuing political efforts to induce
them. Latin American economies, though
still hesitant and weak, are gradually
building an industrial sector and modern
agriculture alongside their traditional
rural backwaters. The f,;' ;me will be
determined less by those who sit in cafi;s
providing copy for American journalists
than by the increasing numbers of stu-
dents who are preparing themselves to
fill technical and non-elite functions
in a future society whose coming no
one questions. Whether, once that is
achieved, the problems of future genera-
tions of Latin American students will
become more like ours remains to be
seen.
MEXICO
Cause for the Rebels
Next month's Olympic games. are the
first to be held in a Spanish-speaking
country, the first in Latin America, and
the first in a developing nation. They
are also Mexico's first big opportunity
to put its stable prosperity on inter-
national display, A two-month-old strike
by Mexico's normally docile university
students is threatening to spoil that tri-
umph. Last week President Gustavo
Diaz Ordaz ordered the army to end
the strike by taking over the National
University campus on the outskirts of
Mexico City.
The action shattered a 40-year tra-
dition of university autonomy. As ar-
mored cars rumbled onto the almost-
deserted campus, several thousand so]-
dicrs fanned out and arrested the first
500 students they could find, They also
seized 34 professors. When other stu-
dents. demonstrated"against the invasion,
riot cops cracked down with billy clubs,
tear gas and nausea gas, clapped an-
other 500 demonstrators into, jail. Thou-
sands of students. retreated to the cam-
pus of the huge Polytechnic School.
They were so certain that the army
would invade there, too, that they put
up signs reading WELCOME, SOLDIERS.
Caught in the middle of the dispute,
Javier Barros Sierra, the National Uni-
versity's respected rector, protested the
government's "excessive use of force,
which our institution did not deserve."
He held no brief for the young rebels,
pproved
either. "Likewise," he said, "the -uni-
versity did not deserve the use made of
it by some students and outside groups."
Four Demands. It was the second
time the government had given its stu-
dent rebels a cause. The riots started in
July, when city granaderos, or riot cops,
quelled a fight among prep-school boys
and briefly occupied one of the school
buildings. When the students protested,
paratroopers moved in with tanks, ar-
mored cars and bazookas. They tem-
porarily stopped the riots, but at the
price of turning most of Mexico's stu-
dents against them.
During two months of orderly dem-
onstrations in Zocalo, the central plaza
opposite Diaz Ordaz's mansion, the stu-
dents made four demands: that the gov-
ernment disband the grunaderos, dismiss
Mexico City's police chief, release all so-
called political prisoners, and revoke
an antisubversion clause in the penal
code. The government promised to re-
examine the law, but otherwise re-
mained aloof. Mexico's press blamed
the riots. on "Communist agitators," but
the demonstrations seemed more to re-
flect the influence of an activist New
Left. Increasingly, the students threat-
ened to "stop the Olympics," and di-
rected their attacks against- Diaz Ordaz
himself.
Amoeba with Food. The ruling Par-
ty of Republican Institutions
also found itself under direct attack-
something to which it is not accustomed.
Some of the P.R.I.'s most powerful
men were student rioters themselves in
the revolution of 1910, but the arty's
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tolerance for dissent has withered mark-
edly. When the opposition Party of Na-
tional i'.ction won two state election,;
last year, the government simply an-
nulled the elections. "The P.R.I. doesn't
know how to bend," said a foreign dip-
lomat. "When it encounters an obstacle,
it engulfs it, like an amoeba with a
piece of food." But 58% of Mexico's
population is now tundcr 25, and while:
only a fraction of the youths are wav-
ing black and red flags, there are enough
sympathizers to make even a brobding-
nagian amoeba balk. In any case, wheth-
er the students demonstrate during the
games or not, the sight of troops oc-
cupying the campus across from the
Olympic stadium may well blight Nlex-
ico's proudest hour.
EL UNIVERSAL GRAFICO, Mexico City
2 August 1968
The 26th of July in Mexico
By Eduardo Arrieta
The youth that disrupted Mexico City were pushed by groups known to be
interested in undermining order and national institutions. And whatever the
pretext, the result is that these unscrupulous individuals create or provoke
anarchy and threaten our sovereignty by means of any unthinking youthful dis-
position to clamour, tumult, agitation and to riot thinly. disguised as vindica-
tion.
Here, apparently,, it was all triggered by the insignificant circumstance
of an inter-student dispute. Just as the meaningless objectives were lost in
a sea of irrationalities, so were developments precipitated. Even then the gov-
ernment sustained interruption of transportation and disruption of capital life;
thousands of residents, heads of family, employees, workers and students also,
found to their dismay that they were prevented from meeting their obligations
by the illegal conduct of the unruly youngsters who concentrated on stealing
lorries, destroying shops, and in short, paralyzing the normal life of the city.
The material losses suffered are enormous, and there aren't even enough records
to make an approximate inventory of the losses. In terms of intellectual,
cultural and international prestige, it is even less possible to estimate what
has been lost by this formless movement. Aside from the apparent destruction
in school and office buildings, it isn't known whether the vandalism has meant
the loss of valuable papers indispensable to scholarly efforts.
It is obvious that there was a. scheme to the disorders which were provoked.
The advocates of subversion -- for that reason enemies of a'country like Mexico
that is trying to raise its standards by means of strength and work -- were ex-
,.pecting a chain reaction: after an unimportant souffle among students, police
intervention;'then the little understood but wounded student pride, the attack
.and ridicule against -- in this case, unpopular -- representatives of authority;
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H
T
 CPYRGH
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consequently natural repression; finally the facts of blood, victims, banners,
the "humanitarian" excuses with more violence, justice and legal strength,
when what is really sought is disorder and disregard of the law, and the tramp-
ling of individual guarantees so that the unrest will produce weariness and the
final crack-up of society.
There was, then, a plan. It is-no mere coincidence that during these days
one of the many groups of instigators of the chaos took part in the anniversary
celebration of the extinct 26th of July Movement.
EL UNIVERSAL GRAFICO, Mexico City
2 August 1968
Los j6venes' que perturbaron la ciu ?tural, de prestigio international- me-
dad deMexieo, fueron empujados- nos ;es posible calcular to que so ha
Por grupos senalados que se interesan Perdido o se ha de pertler por esta
en dislocar?el orden y las institucio- causa sin pies ni cabeza. Aparte de lag
.net . n ieto~i tlcs. Y cualquier. prctexto-: destrucciones em los . edificlos . escola-
resulti bueno `pars' que estos descali- res y comerciales. no se sabe"si tam-
11cados individuos desaten. o provo- - bien el vandalismo desatado atentb
quen la anarquia, encirnando sus no- contra la documentac16n vallosa a in-
dispensable de los expendientes esco-
fastos deslgnios contra nuestra sobe- lares.
rania en la irretiexiva disposition ju- Es obvio que hobo una programa-
venil a la algarabia, al alboroto, a la cion en los des6rdenes provocados. Loa
" Juko"en
For EDUARDO ARRIETA
Aqui, en apazlencia, todo fue moti-
vado por el insignificante hecho de
una reyerta lnterestudiantil. Ya en
caucc. y a medida que los objetivos
anodinos se iban perdiendo en la ma-
rea de las inrazones, los aconteci-
mientos se preci.pitaron. An ? alli, el
gobierno soporto la dislocacidn del
trAnsito y la desarticulac16n de la vida
capitalina; millares de habitantes, je-
fes de familla, empleados, obreros, es-
tudlantes tambien, se vieron angustio-
samente impedidos de cumplir con sus
obligaciones por la conducta inclvil de
los muchachos cadticos que se dedica-
ron a secuestrar camlones, destruir
comerclos, paralizar, en fin, la vida
normal de la ciudad. Los danos mate-
riales que se produjeron son enormes,
y aun nose tienen los dat.os suficien-
tes Para hater un inventario aproxi-
made de los mismos.
En otros prdenes -intelectual, cul-
agitacidn, al motin mal.encublerto ba- amigos de la subversion -por tanto
n el cislraz de su uestas vindica- enemigos de un pals como Mexico qua
j P esta tratando de se uir eleva.ndose
mediante el esfuerzo y el . traba.jo--
esperaban una reacclon en cadena:
despues de una rifle sin importancia
entre aluninos, 11 intervenci6n polt-
ciaca; despues, el mal entendido or-
sullo estudlantii herido, el ataque y la
burla a los -Para esto si impopula-
res-, representantes de la autoridad;,
en segulda, la, natural represi6n; per
ultimo, los hechos de sangre, las victi-
mas, las banderas, los pretextos "hu-
manitarios" Para reclamar con mes
violencia, justicia y rigor de la ley,,
cuando to que se busca es desorden y
olvido de In ley, pisoteo de las garan-
tins individuales Para que el fermento
produzca el cansancio y el estallido fi-
nal de la sociedad.
Habig,- pues, un plan. No es mera
coincidencia que en eMtos dial uno de
tantos grupos de azuzadores del caos
adujera la,celebrac16n de un aniver-
sario del extinto movimiento "26 de
Julio". .
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 CPYRGHT
ppreved ForRelease
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
20 September 1968
Mexico's revolution, which began in 1910 and
surged forward after 19:i, has made the country
one of the most stable and prosperous in Latin
America. But now there are signs of unrest. New
demands are being made which may herald yet
another advance in the nearly 50-year-old revolu-
tion.
By James Nelson Goodsell
Latin America correspondent of
The Christian Science Monitor
Mexico City As these words are being written, the student move
11. meat has so far failed to attract much visible support
111S ENIGMATIC LAND; LONG' CONSIDERfrom other sectors of Mexican society. But this does
,Latin America's most stable nation, is showing signs not mean the students are without supporters or sym-
of restlessness. pathy in Mexico.
After nearly 40 years of political consensus, the In fact, the student challenge to authority here, if
prospect of major and perhaps serious dissent now not their immediate cause, is appealing to many Mex-
.faces the Mexican nation. icans who have grown tired of Mexico's one-party
Just what such dissent means for Mexico's future political system and its failure to make more rapid
and where it will lead is hard to tell. But the prospect strides in,solving the nation's problems.
is a very real one. Coming at the moment when
Mexico is preparing to host the 1968 Olympic Games, Boosting the `continuing revolution'
it is a prospect
nut that sends shivers through Mexico. e The system, which has allowed the Partido Revolu-
most are numerous signs of f the reestlessness --t
most obvious, the mounting student movement. cionario Institucional (PRI) to govern without much
1' or the past two months, university and high school opposition, is a sus. one. The PRI is actually a
>tud or thin Mexico City have carried on a varety of party of consensus. It has become a sort of umbrella
antigovernment oe City h embracing and representing diverse sectors of Mexican
anti on n e nt .Dion rations,
Ordaz even challenging society. By some standards} such one-party rule would
hardly seem democratic. Yet there are clearly some
Their protests list a host of "wrongs": official car- elements of democratic practice within the framework.
ruption, one-party rule, heavy-handed police tactics, Actually the Mexican system has worked reasonably
and an oft-criticized judicial system. well over the years since the PRI was founded in the
1930's. Moreover, the system is credited quite correctly
Nation roused by challenge with helping Mexico achieve its present political peace
The students brazenly, and successfully, took their and vigorous economic growth, while permitting a
antigovernment campaign right to the seat of gov- growing degree of social mobility, so uncommon to the
ernment, the Zocalo, the central plaza of Mexico City rest of Latin America.
which is almost always reserved for officially spon- Wrapped up with the PRI is the concept of perma-
sored progovernment outpourings of support. nent revolution and change which is so much a part
This very effective challenge roused this nation as of modern Mexican politics. Virtually all political
few events have. spokesmen, including President Diaz Ordaz, go to
These student demonstrations raise the question of great efforts to ennoble the concept of a "continuing
revolution
~~ whether Mexico is as stable as many say it is and asrevolution."
we then c o as at was have the world be- Yet there are many parts of Mexican society which
not as have not shared in this continuing revolution - at least
lieve. The answer m
one, but the fact th y Q1Yi~Wi , ,,e na o 0811-1 tt1- Fk tO 8YbMOO40 Q-fie revo-
important. . lution and fought for its beginning in 1910 expected.,
 CPYRGH
leashed," comments one government official who adds
that "in the long run I hope this will. be a healthy raslaionin a complex sociey
pp,,,, FF r RRtrI 990pp~5 n(1RR~/17 cIitis AfDP7-3061A0004 0030020-4
Thisz~ ~i~~c~ti il9 tl ~5 r'dQNL~3fZ~o. A7sc~ is is an import ant nation, perhaps Latin America's
in the countryside that the concept of continuing revo- most dynamic land. With a population of more than
lution is most vulnerable. There is grumbling in the 45 million, it is the largest Spanish-speaking country,
countryside, and anyone who has traveled outside of populationwise, in the world.
Mexico City and other major metropolitan areas has With a noble history dating well back into pre.
heard the protests and complaints. ' Christian times, it boasts probably the most extensive
But this is often overlooked in Mexico City, which Indian civilization of pro-European time in the new
has developed a thriving middle class and which world. Its 10,000 archaeological sites support this
affords the social mobility that is necessary if Mexico claim:
is to lift itself out of the backwardness which charac- And the overwhelming majority of Mexicans are
terized the pre-1910 period. descended in one way or another from this Indian
It may be that Mexico's growing social mobility is background.
responsible for the current restlessness felt here. The modern Mexican is a mestizo-meaning a per.
"We're about to encounter the storm we've un- son of mixed Indian and Spanish or white background.
development." Out of a complex history, he has molded since 1910
But whatever the reason, Mexico's current restless- . a society that is just as mixed as his own background.
ness is very much a dominant factor in assessing this .The year 1910 is important, for in a real way it
important nation as it hosts the Olympics.. marks the. watershed of modern Mexican history. The
nation's modern progress stems from that date when
Olympics visitors on the way the old dictatorial regime of Porfirio Diaz was over.
thrown and a series of revolutionary governments,
Hundreds of thousands of Olympics visitors are many of them ill-fated for their leaders, began.
going to have a look at this dynamic Latin land, its It was not until the 1930's that the revolution began
achievements and advances and its problems, in- making real economic progress, but that was after the
eluding this new element in the picture. If present ground rules were laid down--including such goals
trends and performance continue as promised, there as universal education, separation of church and state,
very well may, be evidence of the youthful rebellion. one term for each president and a host of others.
which is not confined to Mexico City alone, but In the process, Mexico developed a mixed economy
stretches into at least half of Mexico's 24. states. '.with more socialist features than almost any other
"
Even if it is not openly visible and if the students
Latin American nation with the exception of Fidel
Castro's Cuba, yet with a vigorous private enterprise
system which continues to yield bountiful dividends to
Mexicans and foreigners who invest. It has been a
happy, although sometimes difficult, blending of the
two.,
.
And through it all.more and more Mexicans have
come to share in thenational wealth; as industry and
commerce developed and as the middle class has
grown in numbers and strength.
Mexico's economic growth is yearly among the best
in Latin America and usually the best-running cur-
rently at 7 percent per year. Mexico's peso is among
the hard currencies of the world, used in many inter-
national loans and based on an enviable stable rela-
-tionship with the United States dollar.
over ty problen'i not all oncsided
o
a
sai ere ecomin Although there are serious urban and rural poverty
aware that a new approach to politics is necessary. problems in Mexico with its burgeoning percent popu-
The student movement is simply a symptom of this lation. increase (one. of the highest in Latin America),
recognition. Why do you think that Diaz Ordaz was so there are relieving factors:
sympathetic to the students and the young people in It is possible, for example, ,and indeed many hun-
his state of the nation address?'dreds of thousands of Mexicans' are doing it, to move
out of slum conditions in Mexico City into lower.
Hard line but with admissions middle-class conditions within a lifetime-something
That was President Diaz'Ordaz's Sept. I message, that is virtually impossible in most other latin lands.
one hour of which was devoted to'the student crisis in This- social mobility, of course, creates problems.
terms both tough and conciliatory. The President And it is these problems which : arc showing up in
today s restlessness.
took a hard line on future student demonstrations, but "A nation does not advance and
seemed to admit much justification in. the student pro ress without
protest. problems," President Diaz Ordaz says.
In some ways, it is hard to assess the current trend His words -are echoed by one of the students tatting
of modern Mexico. Too little time has elapsed since we part in the current student movement. "Of course,
e have gone ahead sine. e the revolution," he
the restlessness was first noted. And there are too says, "but this isn't enough. !'here is so much more
many imponderables in the situation. to be. done and we are becoming more aware of it
But the extent to which the latest manifestation of because of what has already been done."
this uncertaintythe student protest-has shattered He might also have added that it is the burgeoning
the Mexican. calm is evidence, of its importance to
Mexico, its -govern t
and its e young population of Mexico that is calling for the
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the most perceptive visitor. will see that we are a
people who are growing into political maturity and
who want more mobility in politics," comments a PRI
leader who says he has considerable sympathy for the
student movement and.its goals - "even those which
go beyond the immediate scope of the student protest."
Like many other leaders in Mexico willing to com-
ment on the country's political, 'economic, and social .
problems in more than general and often glowing
terms, this official would not,permit his name to be
used. "It would be political suicide for me to allow my
name to be used if I were, quoted honestly` and accu-
rately," another leading government official said.
It is this very lack of political sophistication which
is at the nub of -real protest here.
A leading businessman with close connections with
government and PRY
ffici
l d "W ' b
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Mexicans. More than 6.0 percent of all Mexicans are
under the age of 25. They are an increasingly vocal
group and cannot be forgotten.
Students still lack major support
The students are for now a fairly independent unit,
without much support from the urban workers and the
rural'campesinos. Yet the possibility that the move-
ment will spread is very much with Mexico this Olym-
pic year.
And it seems likely that the students, who are basi-
cally an idealistic group will continue in their quest
to right the wrongs that sti%1 exist in Mexico so many,
years after its 1910 revolution.
That restlessness could be catching. And indeed
there is evidence to suggest that it is far. more wide-
spread already than the limited student movement
would lead the observer to believe.
Mexico's present challenge is really a twofold one:.
that of keeping up the revolution begun in 1910 and at
the same time carrying it more eff'eetively into areas
where it has yet to reach. One of those areas may
well be the breakup of the long-standing political con-
sensus and its replacement over time. with a more,
representative approach.
"We could be witnessing the initial phase of this,"-
the PRI leader quoted before said. "It is hard to tell,
however"
And indeed it is hard to guess what will be the
outcome of the present restlessness here. What can be
said is that it exists and that it is potentially explosive.
First. of six articles
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 CPYRGHT
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:,lHRI$TIs;.N SC1114CE MONITOR
26 September Ir6ii
for e:,:
By James Nelson Goodsell
Latin America correspondent of
The Christian Science Monitor
There were dozens of threats by students
to march on the two schools and retake them
by force. '
Hospital reports of 15 killed in early Tues
day 'tilting near the National Polytechnic
Institute were denied by police spokesmen,:
But 'students and others said deaths and
injuries are far larger than the govern-
ment admits. The police say three were,;
killed in the latest incidents.
The student "protest, which some observ>
'ers here say could upset plans for the,Olym-,
pie Games which open here Oct. 12, is obvi-
.ously a concern to officials here. Moreover,
it is seen as part of the growing call for
changes in Mexico's political system.
And leaders of Mexico's dominant single
party, the Partido Revolucionario Institu-
xional (PRI) are aware that there is clamor
for change in the system.
No one here expects the Partido de Ac
cion National (PAN), the leading opposi-`
tion movement, to seriously threaten the
long PRI hegemony in Mexico's presidential
palace. But there is growing likelihood of
changes within the PRI itself.
The PRI, which embraces both . the far:
" Some time next' year'Gustavo.Diaz Ordaz,'
President of Mexico, will get around to. one,
of the most important tasks of his six.year
term: naming his own successor.
As things are played in Mexican politics,.
the incumbent president makes the choice,,
relying if he wants on the advice of a select'
circle of advisers which includes the living;
'ex-presidents of Mexico.'But the final analy-:
sis, the 'incumbent has the real say in the
choice of his successor.
From the time Mr. Diaz Ordaz makes his
choice known and the individual is then ac-
claimed, the script for the elections of'1970s
should be routine. The candidate will travel
from the large cities of Mexico to the'
sparsely populated rural areas, campaign-,`
ing against an opposition which has been;
unable in past elections to garner 'more
'than about 10 percent of the vote. And even-'
tually, the Diaz Ordaz candidate, who will.
become a household "name among Mexico's-
,46 million people, will win handily.
At least that" is the script. But this time,M
Mexican politics may not work that way.`
.The mounting protest in Mexico, far ante-'*
dating this summer's student protest, is
calling for a change in the script..'
In the latest clash between police and stu-'
;dents, Mexico 'City's granaderos (riot po-;.
.licemen) dispersed a crowd of more than
20,000 students late Tuesday with -a barrage
of tear-gas grenades. The students had gath-
ered for a rally In the Plaza of Three Cut-'
tures near the Foreign Ministry building.
Elite `criticized
The rally was called ` to protest Army
occupation last Thursday of the National
,University of ;Mexico and the subsequent,
police take-over late,Mondayof the National
,'polytechnic .'Institute ,
Left and the far. Right in a loose amalgam';
unlike any other political body in the world,i
is actually based on three sectors of Mexi-`;
can society-labor, farm, and popular. They
idea is that the PRI provides a political
haven for. all elements within Mexican so-"
ciety: I
Formed out of the diverse and often war-
ring elements of the Mexican Revolution
which began'in 1910 and continued into the"
1930's, the PRI was designed to bring these
elements together and use the talent of all
for common goals. It was a valid vision--
and has worked relatively well.
,' Even the PRI's most ardent critics give
the 'political party good marks for' filling a
political need in earlier years and for pro-.
viding Mexico-with a political peace which
has made possible its economic progress;
and social mobility.
But the criticism of the PRI at this time,
to say nothing about the criticism of he
whole political structure, centers on a feel..
'ing that the PRI is no longer in tune with'
the times, . that although a party of con-
sensus it does not represent the.biggest elc
'ment in society, the youth of the nation.
Moreover, criticism centers on the ruling
elite within the PRI--the former presidents
and a small number of close advisers who'
actually dictate the course of PRI politics"
and in turn the course of Mexico. And there
is also a sizable body of critics who note'
that opposition groups such as PAN do not
have much opportunity to grow, that they
are outside the patronage system and the
ballot-counting arrangements, and therefore
have little prospect of any immediate vic-
tories of consequence in state and 'local
polls, to say nothing of the national election,
,The PRI has grown increasingly conser-
vative in the years since it was formed.
Although its initial party platforms called
for radical,,gconomic and social reforms
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1
 CPYRGHT
including suchAllp ved iFiereRpde ti;D05/08/ltT& Q,A,A {7A503, }-jAWjWA9,0?Pd4
of the oil fields, an action which was carried
out by Lazaro Cardenas in the 1930's-the
party is clearly to the right of center.
Stability defended
The PRI has for so long dominated Mexi-
can politics that the thought of change
brings worry not only to PRI supporters but
also to those who basically want some alter-
ation of the political system.
"The system- has been good for Mexico's
progress," says a PRI official, who admits
the possibility is growing that the system
may nave to be changed somewhat "to'
bring us into accord with the times.'.'
Yet no one in the PRI, the broad umbrella
embracing virtually all of the political rain-
bow here, expects or much less wants any
vigorous change which would seriously alter
the PRI's dominance in federal, state, and
local elections.
"They've got too much going for them,"
comments a longtime foreign resident who
says the PRI will not give up its dominance
easily. More important than the offices won
by PRI candidates is the question of patron-
age which has grown markedly over the
years. Much of the PRI's ability to keep
winning elections is based on this issue,
for if the PRI were to lose an election in
one of the states, the whole system of
patronage would fall away.
Tainpering charred
PAN and several smaller parties say
they have won elections in the northern
states of Chihuahua and Sonora and in
the southeastern Yucatan Peninsula. And
a few PAN officeseekers actually have
taken over mayor posts, and other small
offices in the outlying areas of Mexico. But
PAN leaders say that while they have won
elsewhere, the Mexican Government has
altered the ballot boxes and brought about
a PRI win. .
Still, on balance, there are more PAN
members in office today than five years
ago-and the number is growing slowly.
For some time, observers felt that change,
of it were to cone in Mexico's political struc-,
ture, would cone through the slow rise. of
opposition political parties.
It probably will be a factor, but the pos.
sibility of change within the PRI is even
more discussed as likely in the wake of the
mounting restlessness evident in Mexican
society today.
Industry developed
Mr. Cardenas was probably the last valid
radical in the presidency, although.thcre is
even thought in some quarters that: he was
not as radical a President as his image sug.
,;gists. Today, although the presidents since
then have often been tagged liberals, the
idea of a strongly mixed economy in which
both the private and public sectors com-
mingle is the key to political philosophy.
Mexico has capitalized on its closeness to
tourism in growing proportions. The nation
is becoming industrialized and with this
has come a new class of middle-income
workers who like the prosperity of the na-
tion and want to keep it that way. The PRI
in some ways seems best designed to keep
things going in this fashion.
The PRI's three-pronged base of. labor
,
farm, and popular sectors is wearing a
little thin, however. Wages in Mexico have
not increased sharply in the past 20 years
following the immediate post World War II
rises, thus providing investors with a cheap
labor source.
Farm lad cited
The farm scene is not a very healthy one.
The Revolution of 1910 was designed to fur-
ther the forgotten man in Mexico, the rural
campesino. But his lot in many instances
is little better than it was in 1910. Some
opponents of the PRI and of the present
trend in Mexico say that the government
has been more interested in building a new
urban class and has consequently forgotten,
the rural side.
PRI officials seem to admit some validity
in the criticism. And President Diaz Ordaz
has worked during the first four years of
his tenure to place ;?e emphasis on the
.agrarian side of society.
But outside of the PRI's three-pronged
base is the mounting force of youth which
has made itself felt in Mexico during this
past summer of discontent. The student
strike, with its demands for certain changes,-
however, has not gotten at the root of stu-
dent discontent, which in its basic form is a
challenge to the system, to the PRI, and to
the whole fabric of Mexico's political ar-
rangements.
This undoubtedly will come later. And it
will probably be the challenge facing the
man President Diaz Ordaz taps next year to
be his successor. '
At present, the leading candidate appears
to be Mexico City's industrious and hard-
working Mayor, Alfonso Corona del Rosal.
A longtime associate of President Diaz Or.
daz, 'Mr. Corona del Rosal has many crc-'
dentials for the office-a longtime service
within PRI ranks, ability, and political
savvy.
Yet he has opposition-from the students,
who have linked him with the police and
Army brutality exemplified in the initial
police-student clashes of late July; from
within PRI ranks where there is much jock-
eying for political power; and from Luis
Echeverria, Minister of Government (han.
dling internal security and other activities),
who has supporters pushing his name.
Second of six, articles
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2
 CPYFGHT
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
27 September 1968
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Mexico's growth rate
daces Latin America'
By James tvcison uoouseu
Latin America correspondent of
The Christian Science Monitor
Mexico City
With continuing economic growth rates
-above 6 percent per year, Mexico has
become" a pacesetter for Latin America."
And, since.1945, it has led the Latin-speak..
ing Americas in economic progress and_
social advancement.
In some ways, as a banker here said this
past summer, "Mexico is the example upon
which the somewhat floundering Alliance,
for Progress ought to pattern."
That statement probably overstates thet
case. For even the good growth-rate fig
ures shown in recent statistics do not tell'
the whole story, and there are signs on the;
horizon that all is not as rosy as the indi-',
cations suggest.
Yet there is a good, solid economic
growth here-keeping well ahead of the
more than 3 percent increase in population
registered each year in' this nation of 46
million people. And the record indicates
the role of Mexico in setting the pace for,
the rest of the hemisphere.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce;
recently announced that figures for the first
five months of 1968 suggest that the`Mexi-
can economy will perform better this year
than in 1067 when the gross national pro-
duct increased 6.4 percent.
The good 1968 record includes significant
gains in manufactured items, although it'
does reflect some decline in both agricul?;
ture and in tourism.
There is .also the added factor of infla-
tionary pressures, Mexico's' dynamic'
growth picture fans these pressures. The`
price index for 1967 rose 2.9 percent, which;
Is more than double the index for 1966. And,
early indications for 1968 suggest this year's:
total may well be much higher, perhaps ins.
the 4 or-5 percent bracket.
One hears more often than before a
clamor from the affected sectors-'the,
housewife who watches the food bill increasel
and the salaried individual who is on at
fixed income. Food prices in 1967 rose 4.4i
percent compared to 2 percent in 1966.
What the 1968 figure will be is unclear. Bute
there have been sharp food-price increases.:
this past six or seven months.
Overall the current business and, industry
situation here is not quite as hopeful as it?
was a year ago.. Creidt in this Olympic
year ha~dsp$T hter vi h -little r09088/17
or, ease
of a major relief in the government's effort'
to keep down inflationary pressures. '
It Is generally believed that the growth in
1968 will come more from the private sec-
for than from the government and that this
growth will keep the gross national pro..
:duct rising at a near 7. percent during the
year.
Effect probed
But how long this growth can be sus
tained remains an open question.
Mexican businessmen are aware of the-
question and the problems it implies. Butt
lest the cautionary signs be taken as at
storm warning, these businessmen as well
as government officials and economic an-
alysts think that many of the immediate
threats to economic expansion are only
short-range items and that they are offset:.
by the nation's continuing impetus for'
expansion.
In short, the long run looks much better
than cautionary 'signs on the horizon might
indicate.
Still, the effect of the student disorders
of this past summer is hard to gauge. Much
physical damage has been done to parts of
Mexico City-several million. dollars worth
in broken windows, burned-out;'buses, and
defacement of public works.
And there is also the factor of the loss,
to the nation in student development dur-'
'ing the months that the schools have been.
closed by the student strike.
Moreover, the student activity is continu-.
ing. And there is' no indication of it slow s
ing down. With the Olympics almost here,
,there is concern over what the student un
rest will do the. image of a stable nation,
that Mexico puts forth and which has been
fairly accurate.
'Tourists do not want to visit 'a nation
that presents a picture of upheaval and
turmoil. And with the Olympics at' hand,
,to have a large segment of the nation un-
happy and demonstrating is an upsetting
factor. It is bound to have an impact on
tourism, which is a major sector of the
economy.
Mexico relies upon the tourist spending,.
particularly in dollars, to compensate for
the traditional deficit in the balance of
trade.
Putting aside the Impact of the student
r s~h}e r ti of too . ood.
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cans. to stay at home-to spend their pesos
at home rather than abroad, particularly
in the United States.
Tourism increased in the first three months
by only 1.1 percent. There have been some
complaints by storcowners and hotelmen
that while the number of tourists, particu.
larly from the United States, is increasing,
the tourists are spending less. The 1.1 per-
cent boost in tourist spending compares
.with a growth of 18.6 percent during the,
first three months of 1967.
In this connection, new stress apparently
is going to be given to tourism in the'
months ahead. During the summer, a con-
vention on tourism was held in San Luis
Potosi and at the same time the Inter-
American Development Bank and the World.
Bank both. announced credits totaling al-
most . $16 million for a variety of tourist
projects.
One of the solutions to the slowing in tour
ism earnings is a campaign to get Mexi?`
This solution is regarded as important,
for although the number of Mexicans who
go abroad is smaller than the number of
foreigners wx:;- come to Mexico, the Mexi
can abroad spends more than does the,
visitor to this land. The average Mexican'
spends about $1,000, while the average for-'
eigner here spends only $225.
Third of six articles
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