Mexico City’s World Cup Preparations Come at the Expense of Its Poorest Workers

As Mexico City positions itself to host the opening ceremony of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a bitter reality shadows the city’s gleaming renovations: thousands of informal workers—the backbone of its economy—are losing their livelihoods in the name of global spectacle. What appears as progress for international visitors is, in truth, a harsh crackdown on those already living on society’s margins.Who Benefits When Prosperity Is Built on Displacement?Montserrat Fuentes, a sex worker who has plied her trade on Calzada de Tlalpan for two decades, now finds her usual Friday crowds vanished. Construction projects to beautify and ‘‘clean up’’ the city...