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We continue our World Cup coverage in Mexico City, where local protesters are using the global event to bring attention to their causes. A sit-in by a teachers’ union is targeting World Cup festivities. And “the mothers of disappeared people have been protesting, trying to reach the stadium in the far south of the city,” says José Luis Granados Ceja, who covers Latin America for Drop Site News. Meanwhile, due to high ticket prices, “the people who love this sport are not going to be able to attend the games. They have been extraordinarily inaccessible to the population,” adds Granados Cejas.

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: So, I’d like to bring in José Luis Granados Ceja. You’re covering Latin America for Drop Site News and also the co-host of Soberanía. If you could tell us — you are in Mexico City. The first match of the World Cup is happening there. If you could describe what the situation is on the ground? And also, talk about this — we spoke about it earlier with Jules — how much tickets cost there, and the protests surrounding the cup.

JOSÉ LUIS GRANADOS CEJA: So, here in Mexico, the conversation has been: Are these protests, that are happening right now as we speak, in the streets of Mexico City, which include a sit-down protest by a dissident teachers’ union called La CNTE, or — if they’re going to affect the actual event? Now, the messaging from the government has been that, no, everything is going to proceed as normal. There have been negotiations. Just yesterday, they were in closed-door negotiations with the secretary of the interior, or the Secretaría de Gobernación here in Mexico, for six hours to try to reach an agreement. It’s not clear as of yet. It’s the morning of the opening match, and we still don’t know.

But, of course, yes, here, you know, soccer is the most popular sport by far, and the people who love this sport are not going to be able to attend the games. They have been extraordinarily inaccessible to the population. And unfortunately, because also of these protests, maybe the fan fest, which is going to take place, the main one, in the Zócalo — anybody who’s been to Mexico City knows this massive public square. There’s a huge screen there. But right now it’s totally surrounded by high fences in order to keep the demonstrators out.

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I think it’s important to mention these demonstrations, of course, are legitimate. The protesters are highlighting the important issues. In the case of the teachers, they’re asking for a repeal of a 2007 neoliberal law, which essentially privatized pensions in Mexico. They’re also asking for wage increases. We’ve seen other collectives come together. The the mothers of disappeared people have been protesting, trying to reach the stadium in the far south of the city. Other groups have been trying to use this occasion that the world’s attention is on Mexico as the host, as one of the three hosts, and the country that will have the opening match here, to highlight their issues. And I think it’s a perfectly legitimate thing.

The challenge, though, is that there are also reactionary forces. There are anti-popular groups who are trying to latch on to these........

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