Sunday, November 19, 2006
MEXICO CITY — The Mexican government yesterday released a long-awaited report that for the first time officially blames ‘‘the highest command levels’’ of three former presidencies for the massacres, tortures and slayings of hundreds of leftists from the 1960s to the early 1980s.
Based partly on declassified Mexican military documents, the report posted on the Internet ends a five-year investigation by a special prosecutor named by President Vicente Fox to shed light on past crimes, including a 1968 student massacre and the disappearance of hundreds of leftist activists in the 1970s and early 1980s.
The report states that ‘‘the authoritarian regime, at the highest command levels,’’ broke the law and ‘‘committed crimes against humanity’’ that resulted in ‘‘massacres, forced disappearances, systematic torture and genocide to try to destroy a sector of society that it considered ideologically to be its enemy.’’ ...
Asked by reporters if the presidents <Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, José López Portillo and Luis Echeverría> knew of the atrocities but did nothing, <Special prosecutor Ignacio> Carrillo replied, ‘‘Yes.’’ ...
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/the_world/note.jsp?idContent=331847&hideIntro=true