Mexico City 1968: Oscillating Aspirations

Mexico City's staging of the Olympic Games in 1968 provided a unique opportunity; a moment when a nation at ease with itself and its place in the world, played proud host to a global celebration of youthful vigour. This study argues, however, that while the cosmopolitan members of the Organising Committee deeply resented international scepticism of Mexico's ability to stage the Games, they shared a fear that with the eyes of the world upon them, their compatriots would reveal Mexico's aspirations to first world status to be a fraud. Constantly having to defend its actions against hostile international scrutiny, this domestic dilemma led to the confused international posture that Mexico assumed during the Games. While seemingly eager to sustain an image of modernity and progression, Mexico simultaneously took shelter in its role as a leader of the Third World. Mexico's oscillation between polarities of economic development was natural, in that it merely mirrored, and arguably continues to mirror, a Mexican society in which both exist

Notes

[1] The IOC vote took place during the IOC session in Baden-Baden 16–20 Oct. 1963.

[2] Channing and Tabor Frost. ‘The Rule of Porfirio Diaz, 1909’.

[3]‘Continúan las Censuras al Hitlerista que Injurió a México en “Der Spiegal”’, El Nacional, 3 March 1968; Leopoldo Zea, ‘Golpe Racista a México’, Novedades, 3 March 1968.

[4] Reynolds, The Mexican Economy, 37.

[5] Ibid., 40.

[6] Mexico, 1966. Facts, Figures and Trends (México: Banco Nacional, 1968), 32 cited in Meyer et al., The Course of Mexican History, 629.

[7] Archivo General de la Nación (hereafter AGN), COJO, Box 403, 154, tomo IV, 14 May 1968.

[8] Campos Bravo, ‘Reconocen el Esfuerzo del Pueblo Mexicano’, El Nacional, 19 Oct. 1963.

[9] See El Universal, 19 Oct. 1963.

[10] Zolov, ‘Showcasing the 'Land of Tomorrow’, 164.

[11] AGN, COJO, Box 401, report dated 28 April 1969.

[12] AGN, COJO, Box 401, See the committee's annual report to the assembly dated 28 April 1969.

[13] AGN, COJO, Box 300. Memo from José Rogelio Alvárez to Lic. Manuel Noriega de la Concha dated 2 October 1967.

[14] Frederick J. Ruegsegger Papers, 1928–1978, Folder 22: Sept.–Dec.1967. See drafts of speech by made by Brundage at his birthday party.

[15] AGN, COJO, Box 300, 40. Co-presidencia 15 Nov. 1967: Ramírez Vázquez, speech to an audience of architects at the National Polytechnic Institute.

[16]Diario de los Debates, 1 Sept. 1969. Presidential informe.

[17] Brewster and Brewster, ‘Mexico City's Hosting of the 1968 Olympic Games’, 841–6.

[18] Keith Brewster, interview with Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexico City, 26 April 2001.

[19] Archive of the International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, (hereafter IOC/HA): Avery Brundage, 67th IOC session, Mexico City, 7 Oct. 1968, 4–5.

[20] IOC/Juegos Olímpicos, Articles de Presse 1968–68 Notice no. 0105829: ‘Una sorpresa para muchos: la perfecta organización’.

[21] The comments were highlighted by an unidentified US newspaper. IOC/HA: Brundage Microfilm Collection, reel 102, box 177: US Press Clippings.

[22] The comments of both reporters were highlighted by an unidentified US newspaper. IOC/HA: Brundage Microfilm Collection, reel 102, box 177: US Press Clippings.

[23] AGN, COJO, Box 403, 154, v. 5 Relaciones Públicas – copy of article dated 22 Octo. 1968.

[24] Ron Butler, ‘Mexico Awaits Starting Gun’, Seattle Post Intelligencer, 7 April 1968.

[25] For a fuller discussion of the relationship between the student movement and the Olympics, see Brewster and Brewster, ‘The Mexican Student Movement of 1968’, 814–39.

[26] IOC/HA: file CE/CNO – Mexico, 3–11 Oct. 1968: meeting of the Executive Board, 1.

[27] Mary Peters quoted in John Samuel, ‘The Ceremony of Relief’, The Guardian, 14 Oct. 1968, 17.

[28] AGN, COJO, Box 401, report dated 28 April 1969.