Luis Echeverría dies at 100 years old
According to local media, Luis Echeverría Álvarez, president of Mexico from 1970 to 1976, died on Friday night, July 8, 2022, at the age of 100.
Luis Echeverría Álvarez, president of Mexico from 1970 to 1976, died on Friday night, July 8, 2022, at the age of 100, according to local media reports.
Echeverría Álvarez turned 100 years old on January 17. On November 14, 1969, he was elected candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for the Presidency of the Republic and triumphed in the 1970 elections.
The Mexican politician was a key actor in the October 2, 1968, Tlatelolco, and June 10, 1971 massacres, known as the "Halconazo".
Echeverría is known for his role in the so-called "dirty war" or "state terrorism", when his government supported the Cuban Revolution, Salvador Allende in Chile, and Sandinismo in Nicaragua, but persecuted leftist and student movements behind closed doors.
He faced trials for genocide for his role in the massacre of October 2, 1968, when he was Secretary of the Interior under President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (1964-1970) during the massacre in Tlatelolco of more than 300 students, according to figures from civil organizations, who were protesting against the government.
As President, he is held responsible for the "Halconazo" or the Corpus Christi Thursday massacre of June 10, 1971, when paramilitaries organized by the Government, called "Los Halcones", attacked students who were demonstrating and left 17 dead.
After leaving the Presidency he was appointed Mexican ambassador to UNESCO in Paris until 1979. His last public appearance was in April 2021 to receive his Covid-19 vaccine.
