The six-point plan asked the government to: 1) respect the autonomy of the University, 2) remove the article of social dissolution which was being applied to censor freedom of speech (the article enabled the police to arrest any one speaking against the government), 3) release all political prisoners, 4) dissolve the Granaderos--a special police corps used against demonstrations and riots; and not create any similar organization, 5) remove the chief and subchief of police--those who were responsible for the police brutality--and 6) open an investigation into the participation of the army and the actions of the four secretaries of state who gave the army its orders.

During the period from August 8 to 14, students in groups of five or six went out to distribute literature to the people of Mexico City. The police arrested many of these students. Arrests ran as high as 125 per day, but most of these were released the next day. Parents who reported disappearances were often told that their children were in prison for voicing communist ideas. If they attempted to defend their children, they too were branded communist and imprisoned. It should be mentioned at this point that the parents and the faculty supported the students from the start. When I was at the university hundreds of parents came there one evening to hear student and faculty speakers discuss the problems confronting the student movement.

The government was invited to come to the University on August 20 to discuss the six-point plan, but no government representative came. The University declared that it would strike indefinitely until the government agreed to public discussion.

On August 27 there was a huge demonstration in which about half a million people marched to the Zocalo (the government center). These were not just students, but parents, teachers, and people from the countryside. A group of 5000 people remained after the demonstration and said they would stay there until the government would either accept the six-point plan or agree to open discussion of it. During the demonstration, the bells of the Cathedral at the Zocalo were rung (with permission of the Church) to signify the quest for freedom, and a black and red flag was placed next to the Mexican flag to symbolize strike.

30 Killed

At 12:40 a.m. on August 28, the army said that the government would have to leave. When the demonstrators refused, army tanks and soldiers, reinforced by the city police, forced the people out of the Zocalo. They left screaming, "Mexico Freedom." When the people were out on the street they decided to march to the University. The army, however, was determined to scatter the mob, and did so by chasing them down the street with clubs, rifle butts and bayonets. Rifles and machine guns were used to fire into the crowd. Wounded or hurt bodies were run over by the tanks in their pursuit. Men and women alike were clubbed, beaten and wounded with bayonets. Onlookers were not spared -- one old man was beaten to death. About 30 people were killed and many more were seriously hurt. As before, the dead bodies were carted off and burned. No one was notified of their death -- they were just "missing." The students claimed that at no time did they use guns or knives, although some of the more militant ones spoke of their desire to do so. Sticks and stones were used by the students to fight off the police and army.

On August 28, the government had a meeting in the Zocalo. All government employees were compelled to attend. About 30,000 government employees came. Many of them sympathized with the students and opposed the idea of the meeting. The government called the red and black flag further evidence of the communist nature of the student revolution. The students were called anti-patriotic for daring to fly a flag alongside of the Mexican flag. The ringing of the church bells was cited as anti-religious. Thus it was clear, according to the government, that the students were against the Church, against the flag, and hence against the welfare of Mexico.

Student, speakers came to address the government employees but they were chased away by the army. Violence, arrests and brutality characterized the next several days. One of the leaders of the teachers was beaten on the evening of August 28 but he escaped arrest and fled to the University. That night the army had 86 tanks two kilometers from the University of Mexico and also tanks near the Polytecnico, but they never entered the University grounds. On August 29, soldiers and police entered the community near the high school that had been the focus of the first police intervention and beat up people and warned them to keep their kids off the street. On August 30, soldiers dressed like civilians came with guns and literally tore apart one of the dissenting high schools. This was meant to show the people what their demonstrations would accomplish. On August 30, the students decided that they would no longer go near the Zocalo or any of the areas patrolled by the army.

On September 1, in his annual report to the nation, the President devoted one hour to the student problem. He said that people outside of the university were inciting the students to riot, and that the army was acting on his orders to preserve peace in Mexico. Officially the President must have the permission of the Union Congress (which he did not even consult) to call out the army -- thus he was breaking the constitution. He said that the soldiers were giving their lives to protect the people. He further