Student Catholic Radicalism in Cold War Mexico: The Case of the Movimiento Estudiantil Profesional (MEP)

This paper aims to expand our understanding of the global 1960s and challenges monolithic descriptions of the ‘Catholic Right’ that have dominated the historiography of student activism in Cold War Mexico.  Specifically, in documenting the radicalization of the leading Catholic voices of the Movimiento Estudiantil Profesional (MEP) within the global framework of the 1950s and 1960s, it examines the ideas, intellectuals, and key national and international events that shaped the politicization of the MEP, from its anticommunist roots in the 1950s to its participation in the emergence of Mexico’s New Left in the 1960s and early 1970s. Of particular importance is the role a radical wing of this Catholic organization played in the foundation of the nation’s most influential urban guerrilla movement—the Liga Comunista 23 de Septiembre. In the aftermath of the Tlatelolco (October 2, 1968) and Corpus Christi (June 10, 1971) student massacres, a group of mepistas (MEP members) not only fought to solidify a better relationship between Christians and Marxists but also saw armed struggles as the only response to Mexico authoritarianism. For them, the so-called “dialogue” promoted by the state was nothing but another tool of co-optation on the part of the government. Only a violent confrontation with the state, they argued, would bring about real social change to Mexico (and by extension Latin America). Other mepistas adamantly disagreed; spoke against all forms of political violence; and, inspired by Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed (among others), rather moved to poor neighborhoods of their cities and joined forces with Maoist students to eliminate illiteracy, build houses, lead educational workshops, and organize collective kitchens.