Mexico City (AFP) – Thousands of demonstrators blocked an avenue leading to Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium on Tuesday, just days before the 2026 World Cup kicks off at the venue. As football fans flood into tournament co-hosts the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the Central American country is grappling with chaotic teacher protests in its capital.
Tuesday’s protest, led by a breakaway group of the CNTE teachers union, follows a week of demonstrations that President Claudia Sheinbaum has called a “provocation.” “As if to say, ‘Look at how bad the situation is in Mexico,'” she told a press conference. The Azteca stadium will host the World Cup’s first game—pitting Mexico against South Africa—on Thursday, with a vast global TV audience set to tune in for the opening ceremony and the match. Authorities have deployed thousands of officers and set up concrete barriers surrounding the venue to block protests.
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“We intend to reach the stadium,” demonstrator Angel Villalobos told AFP on Tuesday. “The government has given some responses, but they don’t help, they don’t satisfy.” Sheinbaum said earlier that the opening match was “guaranteed,” though the left-leaning leader again ruled out using police to repress the demonstrations. Her government has favored dialogue with the protesting teachers, but to no avail.
“We’re going to continue our struggle,” said Austreberto Flores, another protester looking to block Azteca Stadium. The CNTE teachers union has been on strike since last week to demand a salary raise and the reversal of a pension law—which the government considers unfeasible. The teachers have also set up camp near the World Cup fan zone in Mexico City’s Zocalo square. On June 1, police dispersed protesters in the area with rubber bullets and teargas.
“They want to make it seem like there is mass social turmoil in Mexico, and that’s not true,” Sheinbaum has said of the protests. The teachers have called for demonstrations on Thursday that will also include families of so-called “disappeared” people, who are alleged to have been killed or kidnapped by Mexican authorities or criminal gangs. The 2026 edition of the world’s biggest football extravaganza is the most logistically complex ever staged. Mexico is still rushing to complete renovations at subway stations and at its main airport ahead of the tournament.
© 2024 AFP
