“Mexico, 1968”: Among Olympic Fanfares, Government Repression and Genocide

Abstract

Tlatelolco – which in Nahuatl means the place of the mound – is currently located at the heart of the city of Mexico, and it was the scene of dramatic events during the last centuries. The pre-Columbian founding of the settlement dates back to the sixteenth century. It took place on a small islet in Texcoco lake. Tlatelolco flourished under the Aztec hegemony, and it was the seat of the most important market in the New World (Gibson 1980). Nevertheless, the city’s progress was interrupted by the fall of the twin cities of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco on August 13, 1521. When the Spanish conquest was over, the vanquished stayed in Tlatelolco, and the Spaniards stayed in Mexico-Tenochtitlan (Berlin and Barlow 1980:75).

Once Tlatelolco turned into an “aboriginal town,” it lost its political and economic importance at the hands of Mexico: the seat of the viceroyal powers. Since 1531, Franciscan friars intended to convert the indigenous peoples to Catholicism. They also constructed several buildings: a church to honor Santiago (St. James), a monastery, and a “school to make Indians study” (Villaseñor y Sánchez 1980:133). These structures were located in the center of the settlement, surrounding the plaza (Villaseñor y Sánchez 1980; Barlow 1987). After gaining independence in 1821, and once the “Indian Republics” were abolished, Tlatelolco survived as an impoverished neighborhood with houses in ruins. It gradually grew during the twentieth century, until it was included in an urban renewal project in the 1960s. This project involved the construction of apartment buildings, the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores’ skyscraper (Department of International Relations’ skyscraper), and the development of an archaeological area. Many of the buildings which made up the sacred precinct of the pre-Hispanic city were left open (González Rul 1988). They blended in with the buildings near downtown Mexico City.