Echeverría Becomes President — Mastermind in Power

Luis Echeverría Álvarez, who as Interior Secretary in 1968 coordinated the intelligence and operational response to the student movement including the massacre, is elected President of Mexico (1970–1976). He pursues a populist 'Democratic Opening' (apertura democrática) while continuing to repress dissident movements. His ascension to the presidency deepens the culture of impunity.