Britain: Solidarity with the teachers’ strikes and FIFA boycott in Mexico

We hereby share the article by Red Flag News published on the 5th of July.

This evening, England will play Mexico. For days now, the conversation by sports commentators has been marked by conversations surrounding the venue, with the Azteca stadium being notorious for its height above sea level and the resultant complications surrounding away teams winning as a result.

Despite the media circus surrounding this match, as Communists we recognise the bread and circuses we engage with as being fundamentally tied to material and political conditions which shape how the events themselves were made and the atmosphere surrounding these cultural events.

In particular, it is worth noting the relationship between the World Cup in Mexico and the 20 day long strike by the CNTE [National Coordination of Education Workers] over wages and pensions starting on the 1st of June, which led to a call by militant workers for a boycott of the World Cup so long as their demands for higher wages and pensions were not met. This social movement – distinguished by its militant leadership and a dedication to the working class rather than the bureaucrat capitalist class – was immediately met with severe repression by the Mexican old state, with protesters being shot in the eye with rubber bullets by state thugs.

This act of cowardice, however, was immediately met in kind by the masses who took the streets and blocked access to the national palace on the 3rd of June in a valiant attempt to shut down the capital. Roads were blocked, footballs were lit on fire, FIFA fan celebrations were shut down. Overall, the edifice of festivity surrounding the World Cup was shown to be fake in the face of workers resisting oppression at the hands of a state administration bought out by the forces of imperialism.

On the 8th of June – as a result of the old state’s conscious decision to stall negotiations – the strike righteously escalated into mass resistance: tollbooths were liberated and federal buildings, border crossings and customs booths were occupied. This marked an offensive on the part of the teachers movement, who told people to ‘boycott the 2026 FIFA World Cup!’

On the 10th of June, the movement proliferated with students, anti-gentrification activists, peasant organisations, searching mothers and other organisations joined in with the striking teachers. This escalated onto the start of the World Cup on the 11th when this coalition marched on the Azteca stadium trying to block the gates. As always, they fought valiantly, returning blow after blow with the police; however, the balance of forces changed with the movement progressing into the realm of civility and peaceful protest. Workers returned to their encampments and ended the combative approach of their movement. This decision was made even more confusing by the fact that the social-fascist Sheinbaum refused to engage in negotiations with the striking workers.

From this point onwards, the teachers movement took on a different character, albeit with a maintenance of the militancy of the previous days. The CNTE have officially called an end to their strike on the 21st of June, citing a need to “return with greater strength, fortitude, and intelligence” a sentiment echoed by the revolutionary publication Periodico Mural who call for a reorganisation of the teachers movement from the grassroots up via local delegations and representatives of the union to engage in criticism/self-criticism of the last month.

Nevertheless, their camps still block the roads and their demands for a reversal of the laws affecting the pensions remain a looming question over the heads of football fans trying to represent and support their team for a country deeply affected by inflation, unemployment and a state apparatus determined to crush those who try to fight for a fairer way of reproducing their livelihoods.