43 years after student massacre, Mexico declares a day of mourning

Beginning in 2012, Mexico will officially recognize the events of October 2,1968, when dozens of student protesters and others were mowed down by soldiers and police during an early evening demonstration. Details.

No one has ever been held legally accountable for the massacre. Death toll estimates have ranged from as low as 25 to as high as 350. Many people who were simply watching the protest were killed or wounded. There are recurrent stories that armed squads -- some of them dressed in civilian clothes -- went door to door in the central neighborhood of Tlateolco, hunting down victims they believed had provoked the demonstration. Some students who were arrested remained incarcerated for years. The bloodbath occurred during the PRI administration of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, one of the most authoritarian Mexican presidents of the past half century.

The government's official recognition proclamation, approved by Mexico's congress earlier this year, states simply: "October 2. Anniversary of those who fell fighting for democracy." Flags will be lowered to half-staff next October 2, and on all subsequent commemorations.