Montserrat Fuentes stands on Calzada de Tlalpan where she has worked as a sex worker for 20 years. The city is building a new bike lane ahead of the World Cup soccer tournament, blocking cars from pulling over and closing the metro at night, in Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 30. AP-Yonhap

MEXICO CITY — Montserrat Fuentes stands on the same street corner where she has worked for 20 years. But the sex worker’s normal rush of clients every Friday night is nowhere to be seen.

Instead, the busy Mexico City throughway where some 2,500 sex workers make their living is lined with construction, part of larger preparations in the Mexican capital leading up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup over the summer.

Fuentes, 42, and others say they have seen their earnings slashed by government projects meant to clean up swathes of the city before opening its arms to sports fans from across the world . Street vendors also say they are being pushed out and don’t know what will be left for them after the competition.

“What we’re seeing in Mexico is something that so much of the world has faced when there’s an event of this scale. They always want to fix up their city, make it look nice,” she said. “But the ones that are hurt are always us at the bottom of the ladder.”

The soccer World Cup, which will be hosted simultaneously by Mexico, the United States and Canada, is expected to be a $3 billion economic engine in Mexico as visitors flood airports, hotels, restaurants and sports venues, according to the Mexican Soccer Federation.

But in a country where more than half the workforce is informal, many Mexicans working under precarious conditions worry they will be left behind.

Mexico City's government said it was taking actions to offset impacts to sex workers and vendors, and has been in ongoing talks with workers.

Tension started building in recent months in Mexico City, where the opening ceremony will be hosted, as the local government rapidly renovated its iconic Azteca Stadium, enhanced public transportation and built up public works in historically working class neighborhoods.

Montserrat Fuentes, a sex worker, exits the metro to Calzada de Tlalpan, the street in Mexico City where she has worked for the last 20 years, Tuesday, Feb. 10. AP-Yonhap

Source: Korea Times News