Halcones

The Halcones (Falcons) were a Mexican paramilitary group created at the end of the 1960s and led by Colonel Manuel Díaz Escobar, then deputy director of General Services of the Federal District Department. The group was responsible for the Corpus Christi Massacre—also known as Halconazo—on 10 June 1971, in which nearly 120 people were killed during a student demonstration in Mexico City. Background The Halcones was organized in September 1968 by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), the then dominant Mexican political party. It was considered a semi-official group, directly operating under government authority. It was composed of youths, who formed combat squads trained for the violent suppression of student protesters. They were trained in martial arts at the government's Escuela de Policia (Police Academy). Around 1,500 cadets received this training and received stipends. The inception of Halcones was part of the overall aim of PRI to counter and repress socialism and communism. Halconazo