Mexican Dirty War (1960-2000)

Throughout the 20th century, the PRI has been the political party who has been in power in Mexico the longest. Its hegemony remained uninterrupted between 1929 and 1989. During this long stage, different episodes of dirty war on the part of the state were revealed. All of them have a common denominator: to fight and repress dissident groups to maintain the structures of government.

Although the height of the dirty war was between the 60s and 70s, it had its beginnings in the 1940s

The Mexican army acted as force repressive in very different situations. In 1946 he repressed with the use of arms a group of protesters who expressed their rejection of an alleged case of electoral fraud.

In 1951 the government forced a group of miners who had arrived in the capital in protest to dissolve violently.

In 1952 communist leaders were arrested during the celebration of May 1 and that same year the forces of the order fired on a crowd gathered in the capital to express their displeasure over a case of fraud electoral.

In 1960 army forces occupied the premises of the School National Teachers.

In 1963 several union leaders were sentenced to prison. The Tlalelolco massacre was the bloodiest episode of the terrorism state: between 300 and 500 dead, as well as about 2,000 detainees.

The dirty war of the state had a long list of enemies: unions, political parties, students, social activists and professional sectors. On the other hand, the Federal Directorate of Safety (the CIA in the Mexican version) fought the different guerrilla groups of ideology communist.

Most historians argue that the dirty war in Mexico should be contextualized in the cold war period

Since the early 1960s, different left-wing guerrilla groups appeared in Mexico. These had two main motivations: to combat social inequalities and to weaken the state. From the point of view of the PRI governments, the dirty war had a legitimation: to fight the communism and social disorder.

During the dirty war period, repressive structures were created, including the White Brigade, to persecute dissidents and subversives.

In recent years, many voices have been raised to investigate cases of state repression and for those responsible to be brought to justice. Justice.

Fotolia photos.