MEXICO CITY, Mexico – As Mexico prepares to host the opening match of an upcoming World Cup this week, President Claudia Sheinbaum has moved to reassure the public and visitors that the opening ceremony and first game will proceed without disruption, despite rising tensions over threatened protests from a major teachers union.
The union has issued an explicit warning that demonstrations will break out at the capital’s opening match between Mexico and South Africa this Thursday if the federal government fails to meet their longstanding demands for substantial salary increases and sweeping changes to the national pension system. During her routine daily press briefing held Monday, Sheinbaum struck a firm, confident tone on security for the tournament’s kickoff. “We are going to guarantee that the celebration of the World Cup is well-executed, in peace and tranquility,” the president stated.
Tensions have been building in the Mexican capital for more than a week. On June 1, law enforcement authorities used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of protesting teachers gathered outside the iconic Zocalo, the city’s historic central square. Officials have installed a giant public viewing screen on the Zocalo to create a fan zone for World Cup spectators, a project that has put the space at the center of the ongoing standoff. Today, metal barricades line all streets surrounding the square, a security measure Sheinbaum says is necessary to prevent planned provocations from disrupting the event.
Protesters have already taken visible action to push their demands: just last week, demonstrating teachers pulled down and toppled commemorative statues of famous soccer players in downtown Mexico City, a deliberate act of disruption that drew widespread attention. Large tent encampments set up by the striking teachers now occupy large swathes of the city center, creating significant disruptions for local businesses and commuters.
Many downtown business owners and employees say the protests are already harming their bottom line, warning that the unrest will drive away tourists during what should be one of the busiest tourist events in the country’s recent history. “The access to our restaurant is closed off, the people aren’t coming, the tourists are freaked out,” Jonathan Herrera, a 31-year-old waiter who has joined local pushback against the encampments, told reporters. At one barricaded checkpoint where dozens of people waited for police clearance to cross, one local restaurant attached a large poster to the barricade reading “we’re still open,” a sign of how desperate local businesses are to hold onto customers during the tournament.
Reactions to the protests have been mixed among both locals and visitors. A 64-year-old American tourist, Heather Lutz, expressed public support for the teachers, arguing that large international events give marginalized groups a rare platform to push for change. “No government likes their city to look real during big events like the World Cup,” Lutz noted. For the protesting teachers themselves, the timing of the World Cup is a strategic advantage. Dinora Diaz, a 42-year-old teacher speaking from the main street encampment, told reporters the high-profile tournament is the perfect moment to “generate pressure” to win policy concessions from the federal government.
Negotiations between the Sheinbaum administration and the union have failed to produce a breakthrough so far. On Monday, government officials presented their latest proposal to union leaders, which includes a plan to create a new state-owned enterprise tasked with administering teacher pensions. However, the administration has flatly rejected the union’s core demand to roll back existing pension reform laws, noting that undoing the changes would cost the federal government roughly $400 million, a price tag officials say is unaffordable.
The union has already rejected the government’s latest offer, while top administration official Rosa Icela Rodriguez, Secretary of Governance, has called on striking teachers to remove their blockades and encampments. Rodriguez emphasized that the right to peaceful protest does not override the rights of other city residents and visitors. “It’s fundamental that the legitimate exercise of the right to protest can coexist with the rights of those who live in and move through this great city,” the secretary said.