User:Recarrillo/Military history of Mexico

The Mexican Dirty War began in 1964 and ended in 1982. It was produced by three Mexican governments who killed, tortured, and disappeared dissidents and political opponents. It involved the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) which was supported by the US government, left-wing students, and Guerrilla groups. The authoritarian party that ruled the country for 71 years before being removed in 2000. The presidencies that took place during the time were of Gustavo Diaz Ordaz (1964-1970), Luis Echeverria (1970-1976) and Jose Lopez Portillo (1976-1982).

With the release of “Historical Report to the Mexican Society” Mexico accepted full responsibility for starting a dirty war against leftist guerrillas, university students, and activists. The report included declassified government records, photographs, and details about individuals who were killed under the rule of the PRI. Also, Echeverria known as," the master of illusion, the magician of deceit." According to prosecutor Carrillo who tried to charge him. He explain how their regime chose violence to maintain the status quo when given the choices between repression and negotiation, political stasis, or transformation.

Events
It all began in 1960, when Echeverria wanted to take over the Guerrero region with his "dirty war tactics" that involved his desire to tamp down military dissatisfaction by giving the army and the security forces the green light to attack the left. As the local people grew agitated with the government over use of power, the state enacted suppression acts on Guerrero people to keep the numerous political reform movements quiet. As citizens became more determined to speak out against the government, the PRI increased its terror tactics in the region. With the state’s lengthy coast and rugged but fertile inland mountains, as well as its high poverty rates, made it ideal for drug production and trafficking. Which also increased rates of violence in the state. The tactics continued being done to keep the people under its control, the constant barrage of violence also prompted many guerrillas to consider joining the PRI.

In May 1974, the Party of the Poor (PDLP) kidnapped state senator Ruben Figueroa, a prominent PRI leader. Echeverria's security apparatus took part in a manhunt, to secure a staged rescue of the senator. Reason being, Pablo Cabanas leader of the (PDLP) had a secret payout which was part of his demand for Figueroa's liberation. The army began to start closing in on Cabanas after the successful capture of Senator Figueroa. With the governments eyes on the (PDLP) they seized this was the best opportunity to capture and or kill their leader. Cabanas was later found dead in a shoot-out with soldiers in December 1974.

The protests of 1968 were unprecedented in Mexico and saw hundreds of thousands take to the streets demanding an end to political repression and the freeing of political prisoners. The violent governmental response also was unmatched and signaled the beginning of Mexico 's dirty war against political opponents. Which culminated in the Tlatelolco massacre on October 2, 1968, a student rally in Mexico City turned sideways. With the death toll still in question to this day some estimated the toll in the thousands, but most sources report the toll between 200 and 300 student deaths. The shocking part was the government trying to cover up the massacre by claiming that extremists and communists' agitators initiated the violence. With many eyewitnesses pointing the finger at the President’s security forces who had entered the plaza fully armed with weapons and backed up by armored vehicles. Another massacre took place in Corpus Christi, which also involved student demonstrators in Mexico City on June 10, 1971. During this time, there were several unconnected groups fighting against the government.

During the war, there were an estimated 1,200 disappearances without a trace. Mexico, pressured into to joining Operation Intercept(1969) and Operation Condor(1975). Operation Intercept was launched along the Mexico border to halt the flow of marijuana, heroin, and dangerous drugs. Operation Condor was the first war on drugs in Mexican history, its main purpose was to wipe out the actors involved in the illegal drug industry. The judicial investigation into state crimes against political movements did not begin until the end of the 71 yearlong PRI regime and the election of Vincent Fox in 2000, when the Special Prosecutor's Office for Social and Political Movements of the Past was established (FEMOSPP). Despite realigning much about the conflict's history the (FEMOSPP) has been unable to complete prosecutions against their main perpetrators of the Dirty War.

Torture
Torture was one of many tools used by the PRI group to keep the numerous guerrilla groups and political dissidents under control. Torture was used by the Mexican state to obtain information about attacks and plans from captured rebels and guerrillas. Torture would be done at any number of clandestine detention centers, where guerrillas would be sent before being transferred to a legal prison, to keep the state's activities hidden from outside sources. Hundreds of people tied to the left were illegally detained, tortured and disappeared at the hands of Mexican security forces. The military detained Pablo Cabañas, Lucio’s younger brother, in January 1972. As he stated," my life changed completely." As the soldiers questions him about his brother Lucio's whereabouts, the soldiers chose violence to get him talking they, "slapped us (prisoners) across the face with a club, kicked, electric shocks all over the body, inside the underpants, almost naked, stuck us in a barrel of cold water, submerged our heads, hands and feet tied up, thrown on the floor to be kicked wherever we fell.” After almost spending six years in prison Pablo was released in 1977.

Published on "The National Security Archive", a research group at George Washington University, posted the document on their Web site. An early version of the report was leaked in February to the Mexican press against the wishes of Fox and Carrillo, who felt it was biased against the military and left out important facts. With the government being pressured they issued out the much-awaited final draft. The report included the names of 645 people who disappeared by the state security apparatus, along with the circumstances under which some of them vanished. It also includes the names of 99 people who were victims of extrajudicial executions and more than 2,141 cases of torture.

Aftermath
While Mexico's Dirty War has been over for several years, little is known about the number of victims the war claimed due to its elusive nature throughout its duration. Part of the reason was people getting fed lies and not hearing the truth and leaving many victims families without closure. NGO s have conducted some local investigations since the early 2000s, providing insight into the tactics and dynamics of the war and the scale of crimes. In one case, the "Association of Relatives of Victims of Disappearance, Detention, and Human Rights Violations in Mexico" (AFADEM) documented over 470 disappearances at the hands of state forces in the municipality of Atoyac during the 1970s. Despite evidence of numerous human rights violations, ex-President Echeverria and several other PRI officials had their cases dismissed and were released. The government's failure to address these past problems has caused tension in Mexico at times, as citizens have grown distrustful of a state that does not address the old regime and its reign of terror.

On March 1, 2019, the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, released the official archives of the Federal Security Directorate which showed how'd intelligence agencies targeted activists and opposition groups during the country's "Dirty War." Lopez Obrador stated," we lived for decades under an authoritarian regime that limited freedoms and persecuted those who struggled for social change." Furthermore, he added an official apology on behalf of the Mexican State to victims of repression and said surviving perpetrators of the repression will face legal action, and that surviving victims will be able to see compensation under the law.