Friday, July 13, 2007

Mexico: Ex-president exonerated of 1968 massacre

A Mexican federal court halted the trial against former Mexican president Luis Echevarria over his role in the infamous Tlateloco massacre. “My client was the victim of political persecution” said Echevarria’s attorney who also blasted ex-president Vicente Fox for creating a special judicial commission which brought up charges against Echevarria.

Echevarria was Interior Minister at the time of the 1968 massacre where hundreds (if not thousands) of unarmed protestors were murdered by military officers. Mexico carried its own “dirty war” against leftists during his time as president between 1970 and 1976.

Several days ago an architect claimed that the bodies of three students killed during the Tlateloco massacre were secretly buried under a Mexico City hospital.

Image- Jornada (According to the caption: “Tlateloco’s dead in an ambulance. ‘Those bodies are giving a bad image, toss them underneath the plaza’ ordered a official to a soldier”)

Source (Spanish)- El Diario/La Prensa

Sources (English)- BBC News, Wikipedia, The National Security Archive, International Herald Tribune

No comments: