Their demands include freedom for all political prisoners and the repeal of laws on punishment for acts of subversion, treason and disorder. Right before the Olympic Games in October, the government sends in armed soldiers to disperse 5,000 students rallying in Mexico City's Tlatelolco district.
Soldiers open fire into the crowd.
Estimates vary on the number of people killed. 1976 Poor economic conditions force President Luis Echeverria Alvarez to devalue the peso for the first time since 1954. Mexico refuses to support the United States boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympic Games. 1982 High inflation, debt and atrophying international reserves force Mexico to devalue the peso three times. In September, President Lopez Portillo nationalizes the country's private banking system.