The massacre of October 2nd, 1968 in Mexico City was the culminating point of the state repression of the mass movement composed mainly of students, which had great support from the working class. Hundreds of thousands in schools and neighborhoods participated in that struggle. As background and inspiration of that movement, years before, doctors, teachers and railroad workers held massive strikes and protests in defense of their labor rights and against the repressive system.
The movement occurred in the context of a growing economy of 6 percent on average in the last two decades and a significant increase in the urban population compared to the rural one. In the political sphere, there was an acute class struggle and similar student mobilizations worldwide. In that period, the polarization of the countries either under the influence of the old communist movement or of the capitalist bloc was in force.
The former was led by a clique that had abandoned the principles of communism, but which counterbalanced the capitalist bloc under the leadership of the United States. Capitalism had to be present itself as the best alternative, so it promoted struggles for individual liberties, for feminism, environmentalism and democracy, the advances in these demands are the product of those struggles worldwide. After 1968, some groups of young people became radicalized and became part of the armed movement for national liberation, but the roots of the armed struggle were actually mainly in the terrible oppression and misery in which the peasants lived in rural communities and the workers in the misery belts of the big cities.
Another sector of young people who participated in the movement remained had a more moderate line, which only sought greater freedom and the democratization of society.
A small group of members, friends, and supporters of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) recently attended a march of tens of thousands to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the mass movements of 1968 in Mexico and the massacre of October 2nd. We distributed hundreds of leaflets (see article in Challenge about Ayotzinapa) to education students, students from National Autonomus University of Mexico (UNAM), Autonomus University of Mexico City (UACM) and other social organizations.
We carried a banner in which we highlighted the struggle of communists and students against fascism and imperialism.We also participated on September 26 in a march that took place to demand the appearance of the 43 education students who disappeared four years ago, who were attacked by the Iguala, Guerrero police when they went to that city to ask for economic support from the population and take buses to Mexico City and participate in the demonstration on October 2, 2014.
Our leaflet and the banner were well received by those attending the demonstration. The presence of our party is vital to keep our class alert to the false hope that has awakened in millions of workers with the arrival of the new fake-left government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Communists in the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) honor the memory of those who have fought against the injustices of the capitalist system; we support the workers who continue that struggle today. We believe that capitalism is a system that cannot work for the working class (for all those who need to work to survive), so we call on them to change it for a communist system of social equality, for this we must organize ourselves in a non-electoral party like PLP, to unify internationally and maintain the interests of our class above any individual or group interest. Join us!