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Teotihuacan is the greatest cultural heritage of
Mexico | |
Mexican writers and artists have joined a campaign to stop the US
retailer, Wal-Mart, from opening a store near the famous ruins of
Teotihuacan.
In an open letter to President Vicente Fox, the group says the store
should be built further away from the ruins.
Those who signed the letter include painter Francisco Toledo and
novelist Laura Esquivel.
Correspondents say as the store is almost complete, the campaign is
unlikely to succeed.
"Teotihuacan is for Mexicans our greatest cultural heritage, an
expression of our history and our identity as a people and nation," the
writers and artists said in the letter.
The president's office had no immediate comment.
The discount store,
scheduled to open by December, is located about 1 kilometre from a tourist
park housing the 2,000-year-old ruins which is a designated United Nations
World Heritage Site.
There are a lot of other smaller businesses in the area.
Wal-Mart has legal permission to build the store, while the
national anthropology
institute that oversees the ruins says the building poses no threat.
But local protestors say the discount store will spoil the site, kill
small enterprise and change the way of life in the area.
Three of them spent a week on a hunger strike in protest.
"We're afraid it would open the door to more development ... McDonalds,
Kentucky Fried Chicken," said the novelist, poet and activist Homero
Aridjis.
Activists in the US have sometimes campaigned successfully to prevent
Wal-Mart stores from being built.
Some people, however, are looking forward to the low prices the store
and employment the store will bring.
No one is certain who founded the pyramids which are thought to have
been abandoned around AD 600.
The Aztecs later came upon it and named it Teotihuacan - The Place
Where Men Become Gods.
A small altar unearthed during the construction of the Wal-Mart store
will be preserved in its parking lot.
(Agencies) |
墨西哥作家和藝術家們紛紛參加一場抗議活動，力圖阻止美國零售商沃爾瑪在著名的特奧蒂瓦坎古城遺址附近開設分店。
在寫給墨西哥總統比森特·福克斯·克薩達的一封公開信中，該團體表示這家分店應該建在遠離特奧蒂瓦坎古城遺址的地方。
在公開信上簽名的包括畫家弗朗西斯科·托萊多和小說家勞拉·艾斯奇弗。
據記者報道，該分店業已基本完工，所以抗議運動不太可能取得成功。
“對墨西哥人來說，特奧蒂瓦坎古城是我們最偉大的文化遺產，它不僅展現了墨西哥的歷史，還是我們這個國家和民族身份的象征。”作家和藝術家們在公開信里這樣說。
總統辦公室沒有立即給出答復。
這家原定于12月開張的折扣店位于距特奧蒂瓦坎古城遺址公園約一公里處，公園中這座已有2000年歷史的遺址是聯合國指定的世界遺產。
在這一地段還有很多其他小型商店。
沃爾瑪擁有修建該分店的法律許可，而且負責管理遺址的國家人類學會則表示沃爾瑪分店的修建對遺址并沒有威脅。
但是當地的抗議者們則認為沃爾瑪折扣店會對遺址造成破壞，擠垮小型商店，改變這一地區人們的生活方式。
有三名抗議者絕食一周，以示抗議。
“我們害怕這（沃爾瑪開設分店）會帶來更多變化，比如麥當勞和肯德基炸雞店（的涌入）。”小說家、詩人和活動家席霍梅羅·阿里德吉斯說。
美國的活動家們有時能夠通過抗議活動成功阻止沃爾瑪修建分店。
然而，還是有人盼望著開設低價商店，以及隨之而來的就業機會。
沒有人可以確定是誰建造了這些被認為在公元600年左右被遺棄的金字塔。
后來阿茲特克人（16世紀前的墨西哥土著）來到這里，將它命名為特奧蒂瓦坎——人變為神的地方。
在沃爾瑪分店修建期間，發掘出一座小的祭壇，它將被保存在停車場里。
（中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2004-10-19 10:05