News Focus
- Demonstration planned at Plaza de La Liberación before Group A kick-off
- Campaigners accuse Hyundai of ‘sportswashing’ via World Cup sponsorship
- Protest highlights plight of Mexico’s 130,000 missing persons
- Concerns over supplier Ternium’s alleged role in 2023 disappearances
Demonstrators will gather in Guadalajara on Thursday to protest against Hyundai ahead of the World Cup Group A match between Mexico and South Korea. The rally targets the South Korean car manufacturer over its business relationship with Ternium, a mining firm facing accusations of environmental damage and connections to the disappearance of two Mexican activists.
The protest will take place at the Plaza de La Liberación. Organisers aim to draw attention to the crisis of Mexico’s disappeared, estimated at 130,000 people. Many of these missing individuals worked in the mining sector.
Activists criticise Hyundai for purchasing iron ore from Ternium for steel production. A 2025 report from environmental group Mighty Earth described this supply chain as ‘dirty’. Campaigners claim Hyundai uses its FIFA partnership to ‘sportswash’ its reputation.
The demonstration specifically references the 2023 disappearance of Ricardo Arturo Lagunes Gasca, a human rights lawyer, and Antonio Díaz Valencia, an Indigenous community leader. The two men went missing in January 2023 after attending an anti-mining meeting in Aquila, Michoacán. Witnesses reported that unidentified men in vehicles threatened and followed the activists as they travelled towards Colima state. Authorities later discovered their abandoned vehicle on a highway with bullet holes.
Hyundai serves as an official mobility partner for the tournament alongside Kia. The company has provided FIFA with 994 cars and 506 buses across the host nations. Kia will supply an additional 660 vehicles.
Ternium Mexico has strongly denied any involvement in the disappearances. A company spokesperson stated that they operate within the law and reject violence. They expressed solidarity with the families of the missing men. Hyundai has chosen not to comment on the planned protests.
This demonstration follows other protests during the Mexican leg of the tournament. Last week, striking teachers blocked roads near the Azteca Stadium before Mexico’s opening match against South Africa.