<p>A teachers union has threatened demonstrations at Thursday's opening game between Mexico and South Africa in the capital if the government doesn't respond to demands for salary raises and pension reforms.</p><p>"<strong>We are going to guarantee... that the celebration of the World Cup is well-executed, in peace and tranquility,</strong>" Sheinbaum said in her daily press conference.</p><p>Last week, police dispersed protesters with teargas and rubber bullets outside the historic Zocalo square where authorities have erected a massive screen for a World Cup fan zone.</p><p>The streets surrounding the square remain closed off with metal barricades, which Sheinbaum has said are meant to guard against "provocations."</p><p>Protesting teachers also toppled commemorative statues of players in downtown Mexico City last week.</p><p>Though Sheinbaum has maintained open dialogue with the teachers, the union has deemed government proposals insufficient.</p><p>Joining the protests are hundreds of people from the Ayotzinapa teachers college, who are demanding further efforts to investigate the disappearance of 43 students from the rural school in 2014.</p><p>Mexico City police said they discovered 59 homemade explosive devices on one of the bus convoys entering the capital on Monday, posting a photo of dozens of small white pipes with fuses on X.</p>

Tourists 'freaked out'

<p>The teachers' sprawling tent camps have flooded the city center, leading to complaints from businesses that tourists will stay away during the World Cup.</p><p>"<strong>The access to our restaurant is closed off, the people aren't coming, the tourists are freaked out,</strong>" 31-year-old waiter Jonathan Herrera, who was protesting against the encampment, told AFP.</p><p>Around 50 people waited to cross through one of the metal barricades under the watch of police, where one restaurant glued a poster reading "we're still open."</p><p>US tourist Heather Lutz, 64, expressed support for the protesters.</p><p>"<strong>No government likes their city to look real</strong>" during big events like the World Cup, she said.</p><p>The tournament is the ideal moment to "generate pressure" to win concessions from the government, 42-year-old teacher Dinora Diaz told AFP in the street encampment.</p>

Negotiations

<p>Sheinbaum's government explained on Monday their proposals to the teachers union, proposing the creation of a new state-owned company to administer pensions.</p><p>But the government dismissed the possibility of reversing pension laws, arguing it would cost around $400 million.</p><p>The teachers have rejected the government's proposals while the Secretary of Governance Rosa Icela Rodriguez called for the strikers to lift the blockades.</p><p>"<strong>It's fundamental that the legitimate exercise of the right to protest can coexist with the rights of those who live in and move through this great city,</strong>" the official said.</p>