Excitement is mounting in Mexico as the
World Cup opens in Mexico City, then heads to the city of Guadalajara.
Mexican journalist Leon Krauze is a fan. He was there the last time the World Cup came to
Mexico and will be watching again. The city of Guadalajara has a mythical footballing past: “Pele’s Brazil played there in 1970, then Zico and Socrates played there in 1986. There is a real football memory there, a love affair between Guadalajara and football in general, and I expect it to be a wonderful party.”
But, he says, it won’t be straightforward. Guadalajara also happens to be the capital of a state, Jalisco, which has become the centre of one of the most notorious criminal outfits in Mexican history. There will be a huge security presence during the tournament – not least because of how the US president, Donald Trump, has reacted to the drugs trade in Venezuela, kidnapping the country’s prime minister.
“You have a government in Washington that is really just waiting for the right moment and the right excuse to go into Mexico and take unilateral military action,” Krauze tells Annie Kelly. While it’s unlikely football fans will face danger, if they do, the president, Claudia Sheinbaum, is taking no chances.
<small>Source: The Guardian</small>
