Mexico City faces severe gridlock this Tuesday, October 13, 2026, as a massive march by active and retired workers from the Mexican Social Security Institute collides with multiple other demonstrations across the capital, bringing major thoroughfares to a standstill.
The IMSS Megamarch and Central Corridor Gridlock
The core disruption centers around a high-profile mobilization organized by personnel and retirees from the Mexican Social Security Institute, commonly known as the IMSS.
The demonstrators are pressing for a 10 percent salary increase, improved medical supplies in hospitals, and the removal of their union leader, alongside an ongoing protest camp outside the IMSS central offices. As the march advanced, demonstrators closed both directions of Avenida Revolución and Alfonso Caso, while other groups established blocks at Avenida Paseo de la Reforma and Avenida Hidalgo, as well as Eje Central and 5 de Mayo in the historic center. Authorities also reported closures at Calzada Manuel Villalongín near Río Pánuco and Río Neva, Abraham González and Atenas in the Juárez neighborhood, on Periférico near Avenida Oaxaca in Jardines del Pedregal, and on Avenida 20 de Noviembre from República de Uruguay and Venustiano Carranza starting from 5 de Febrero, alongside informative traffic lights set up by demonstrators at Avenida Fortuna and Riobamba in the Magdalena de las Salinas neighborhood of Gustavo A. Madero. Meanwhile, demonstrators at Eje 1 Poniente and Eje 3 Sur, directly in front of the Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, were reported not affecting traffic.
To manage the chaos, the capital’s C5 videovigilance system deployed 510 cameras to monitor the IMSS march in real time. Meanwhile, traffic authorities recommended alternative routes including Anillo Periférico, Barranca del Muerto, Circuito Interior, Eje 1 and 2 Norte, Isabel la Católica, Doctor Vértiz, Avenida Chapultepec, Eje 4 Sur, Avenida División del Norte, 5 de Febrero, 5 de Mayo, James Sullivan, Avenida Ribera de San Cosme, Avenida Paseo de la Reforma, Lisboa, General Prim, Avenida Insurgentes, and Avenida Paseo del Pedregal.
Broader Union Protests and Capital Demonstrations
The IMSS mobilization forms part of a much broader day of social unrest across the metropolitan area.
Among these auxiliary movements, the Section 35 CDMX of the National Union of Social Security Workers gathered at 09:00 hours at Family Medicine Unit No. 35, located at Calle 7 Number 200 in the Agrícola Pantitlán neighborhood of Iztacalco. Simultaneously, the National Front for Socialism held a political conference at the Supreme Court of Justice, while the UNAM Workers Union assembled at 10:00 hours at the Rectorate Tower in Ciudad Universitaria within Coyoacán. Additional actions involved petroleum workers demonstrating at the Executive Committee of the National Petroleum Workers Union of the Mexican Republic, the "Las Tonantzin" collective protesting at 11:00 hours at the Mexico City Superior Court of Justice located at James Sullivan Number 119 to demand justice for a violence victim with an expected attendance of 30 people, and the Plataforma 4:20 group gathering signatures and holding informative activities at 12:00 hours at the Monument to the Mother in Cuauhtémoc, Avenida División del Norte and Avenida Cuauhtémoc in Benito Juárez, and Avenida Gran Canal corner with Circuito Interior in Gustavo A. Madero. Additionally, a cycling rally was scheduled for 18:00 hours departing from the Hormibus Bay at Azcapotzalco Number 586 in the Center of Azcapotzalco for a tour through the streets of the borough.
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