In this April 9, 2019 file photo, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador answers questions from journalists at his daily 7 a.m. press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican authorities are opening memorials to victims of the country’s “dirty war” against dissidents and guerrillas during nearly 20 years of violence.
The first site to be converted into a memorial is the former Federal Security headquarters in Mexico City where there was a violent crackdown on student protesters in 1971. The memorial will include declassified documents and other material from the national archives.
Deputy Interior Secretary Alejandro Encinas said at Monday’s inauguration ceremony that “the hope is to restore memory and document the severe human rights violations” from that era.
Mexico’s “dirty war” was marked by government-sponsored torture and extrajudicial killings of leftist students and rebel groups.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said his administration will bring to justice any government officials found responsible for past abuses.
