Thousands of protesters are expected to descend on Mexico City on Thursday to disrupt the World Cup’s opening ceremony, vowing to block off the stadium where the first match will kick off unless the Mexican government agrees to their various demands.
Unions and other groups representing teachers, families of the victims of violence, judges and others are using the spotlight that the World Cup will shine on Mexico to try to force the government to negotiate. Their demands are broad: from pay raises for teachers to more government help finding people who have been kidnapped or gone missing as a result of violence by drug cartels.
The Mexican authorities have deployed hundreds of riot police officers across the city to hold back the protesters and ensure the games run smoothly, but observers worry about the prospect of violence at a crucial moment for the country. Some 5.5 million people are expected to visit Mexico during the World Cup, the most broadly watched sporting event globally, drawing hundreds of millions of viewers.
For many Mexicans, the World Cup is a chance to show the world that it is a thriving, cosmopolitan country. But for the protesters, it is a chance to show how far Mexico still has to go to provide security and equality for average citizens.
On Wednesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum tried to assuage concerns during her daily news conference. “Everything is under control,” she said in response to a question about whether the opening ceremony would be upended by demonstrations.
She urged spectators to arrive four hours early to Thursday’s match to navigate the protests.
“But you’ll make it to the stadium,” she said. “It’s going to be a great opening ceremony, and the national team is in high spirits.”
A history of brutal repression of similar mass protests looms over the games. Days before Mexico City hosted the 1968 Olympics opening ceremony, soldiers opened fire on a group of student protesters at the Tlatelolco housing development, killing dozens.
Last week, Ms. Sheinbaum referred to the tragedy as she accused protesters of trying to bait the government into violence.
“We won’t fall for the provocation,” she said.
The president has dismissed the protesters as nothing more than tools of her political opposition who are bent on making her government look bad during the games. On Monday, the authorities seized 59 explosive devices from a bus carrying protesters to Mexico City, according to a government statement.
The bus was part of a caravan that was carrying parents of the 43 college students who went missing in 2014 after a confrontation with the police. The tragedy involving students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College is one of the country’s most enduring. Others who attend the college were also part of the caravan.
Isidoro Vicario Aguilar, a lawyer representing the parents, denied the group was carrying explosives and insisted that it was dedicated to peaceful demonstrations.
But there were signs on Wednesday that the protests were putting a damper on the joy that usually accompanies the World Cup, especially in host countries.
The heart of Mexico’s capital, the Zócalo, was supposed to host much of the city’s World Cup festivities, but the powerful teachers’ union has shut down much of the area, demanding pay hikes and better pensions. About 3,000 teachers have erected a tent city around the Zócalo, a giant plaza outside the presidential palace in the center of the capital’s normally bustling downtown district.
The World Cup is a “window to the world” to give causes more visibility, said Pedro Hernández, a leader from one of Mexico’s largest teachers’ unions. He and other protest leaders insisted they would not resort to violence.
“Our only weapons are chants, books and banners,” he said. “We are not here to cause harm. We are many organizations, many voices, united by many grievances.”
Beyond the demonstrations, critics have said the government has not moved quickly enough to prepare for the games and has missed a vital opportunity to rally Mexicans around their flag and stoke national unity. The capital’s airport was still undergoing renovations, while government workers raced to plant flowers across the city and finish painting pedestrian walkways.
The president’s governing party is part of a broader left-wing populist movement that has typically criticized events like the World Cup as catering to the elite, even though all socioeconomic classes enjoy it. Earlier, Ms. Sheinbaum announced that she would not attend the games and gave her ticket to a young Indigenous woman who could not afford one.
But the protests will also shine a light on Mexico’s most unfortunate, who say they have been neglected by their government despite promises to help them.
In aiming to disrupt the opening ceremony, the families of the missing hope to remind the world that more than 130,000 people have disappeared in Mexico, most in the last two decades because of drug cartel violence. They say the government has not lived up to its promises, either in investigating cases or protecting families that are targeted by cartels for drawing attention to their loves ones’ plight.
“I do it for my daughter and the 6,000 missing people in the city and more than 130,000 missing people across the country,” said Vanessa Gámez, who protested this week on the steps of the Angel of Independence, one of Mexico City’s most famous monuments, holding a photo of her daughter, who disappeared nearly a year ago.
Ms. Gámez and about 100 other family members plan to gather Thursday at the main entrances of the stadium, with white T-shirts and photos of their missing loved ones.
“We want to take advantage of this World Cup event to make our voices heard around the globe,” she said, “so that people can see that those in power do not care about safety and prefer to put a facade on the city to project an image that is not real.”
Already this week, the authorities have deployed columns of police officers in riot gear and erected barriers to cut off protesters marching on the stadium. On Wednesday the groups threatened to close Mexico City’s airport, and throngs of riot police officers were deployed to keep roads to it free.
“Is arrival at the stadium guaranteed? Is the event guaranteed?” asked Pablo Vázquez Camacho, Mexico City’s security chief. “Of course, we have preventive plans, security plans and contingency plans in place for that, and that’s our job.”
Emiliano Rodríguez Mega contributed reporting.
