I have always been in love with soccer and especially when it comes to Mexico. I grew up watching the games with my family and cheering for Mexico no matter what. It’s a sport that unites all of us and makes us feel the most patriotic ever. That is why I decided to base my research on the 1986 World Cup based in Mexico with it also being their second time as hosts. Prior to the 1986 World Cup kick off Mexico was surprised by a deadly 8.1 magnitude earthquake on the morning of September 19, 1985. It struck at the time where many people were just starting to wake up and get started on their daily routine. Within seconds tens of thousands of Mexicans lost their lives and thousands buried in rubble. It sent the capital into complete chaos and the government was nowhere in sight. During the time Mexico was under a sort of dictatorship as El PRI the one party to dominate the political landscape in Mexico was now being uncovered for their deep corruption. Their priority became to assure that the outside world could see them as strong and resilient and still capable enough to host the upcoming World Cup. Unfortunately the severity of the situation was too extreme and Mexico had to ask for outside help. While the people of Mexico were left to fend for themselves they had to dig up their own family, friends, and neighbors. Help came within your everyday people and not from the government. The corruption we can see more is the intertwined relationship of El PRI and Televisa. They made sure to be there for each other and back each other up. Televisa would block any bad press against El PRI and their response to the earthquake in return Televisa was given total rights to the 1986 World Cup. Unfortunately this corruption still occurs and Mexico faces these issues as we saw with the other devastating earthquake in 2017 on the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 earthquake. The corruption of the buildings that collapsed once again shined light on this ongoing issue. Overall the issue still occurs and researching this topic helped me a lot to learn more about the 1986 World Cup.
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