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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
“As if to say, ‘Look at how bad the situation is in Mexico,'” she told a press conference.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Authorities have deployed thousands of officers and set up concrete barriers surrounding the venue to block protests.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Sheinbaum said earlier that the opening match was “guaranteed,” though the left-leaning leader again ruled out using police to repress the demonstrations.<\/p>\n
Her government has favored dialogue with the protesting teachers, but to no avail.<\/p>\n
“We’re going to continue our struggle,” said Austreberto Flores, another protester looking to block Azteca Stadium.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The teachers have also set up camp near the World Cup fan zone in Mexico City’s Zocalo square.<\/p>\n
On June 1, police dispersed protesters in the area with rubber bullets and teargas.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The 2026 edition of the world’s biggest football extravaganza is the most logistically complex ever staged.<\/p>\n
Mexico is still rushing to complete renovations at subway stations and at its main airport ahead of the tournament.<\/p>\n
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