Speakers: Jaime M. Pensado, Jorge Nájera Godínez; Moderator: Jason De León

On September 26th, 2014, a local police from the state of Guerrero opened fire against a group of students from the Rural Training School of Ayotzinapa. Forty-three students disappeared after having been forcefully taken away in police cars. Today, the whereabouts of the forty-three students are still unknown and over a dozen mass graves have been found in Guerrero and other nearby states. A massive social movement has emerged as a direct result. Young students have taken a leading role in this movement. Not only have they exposed the corruption and weakness of the state, but they have also demanded a safer and more democratic Mexico.

Journalists and intellectuals have made numerous comparisons between this latest horrific attack against Mexico’s youth and the events that unfolded in 1968 in the nation’s capital at the Plaza of Tlatelolco, where an undetermined number of students lost their lives at the hands of Mexican authorities.

This talk will use images from the sixties and today to illustrate some historical parallels but also clear contrasts between the 1968 and 2014 student movements in Mexico.

The event will be live-streamed at ii.umich.edu/lacs. Join the discussion and ask questions on Twitter #UMAyotzinapa