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Police Deploy Tear Gas After Teachers Break Through Barriers at World Cup Fan Fest Site in Mexico City
Police clashed with teachers attempting to reach the Zocalo plaza where a Fan Fest for the 2026 World Cup is being built. The confrontation occurred ten days before Mexico’s opening match.
Jun 1, 5:34 PM·1m read1 source
AF
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Mexico City police hurled tear gas at protesting teachers to keep them from reaching the historic Zocalo square where the Fan Fest for the 2026 World Cup is under construction, according to AFP journalists. The clash started when teachers broke through one of the metal barriers that have been set up at the entrance to the Zocalo plaza, a block from the government palace and a giant screen where fans will watch Mexico’s first World Cup game on 11 June.
Hundreds of riot police guarded the square behind tall temporary metal barricades.
“This event will have to be suspended,” union leader Filiberto Frausto told AFP. A dissident faction of the teachers’ union, or CNTE, convened the march, and has threatened to summon “millions” of teachers to the capital during the World Cup if the government doesn’t fulfill their demands for salary raises and the reversal of pension laws.
One of the protesters said he was hit by an unidentified projectile, and was taken away as blood poured from a head injury.
