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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(shù)家們紛紛參加一場(chǎng)抗議活動(dòng)，力圖阻止美國(guó)零售商沃爾瑪在著名的特奧蒂瓦坎古城遺址附近開(kāi)設(shè)分店。
在寫(xiě)給墨西哥總統(tǒng)比森特·福克斯·克薩達(dá)的一封公開(kāi)信中，該團(tuán)體表示這家分店應(yīng)該建在遠(yuǎn)離特奧蒂瓦坎古城遺址的地方。
在公開(kāi)信上簽名的包括畫(huà)家弗朗西斯科·托萊多和小說(shuō)家勞拉·艾斯奇弗。
據(jù)記者報(bào)道，該分店業(yè)已基本完工，所以抗議運(yùn)動(dòng)不太可能取得成功。
“對(duì)墨西哥人來(lái)說(shuō)，特奧蒂瓦坎古城是我們最偉大的文化遺產(chǎn)，它不僅展現(xiàn)了墨西哥的歷史，還是我們這個(gè)國(guó)家和民族身份的象征?！弊骷液退囆g(shù)家們?cè)诠_(kāi)信里這樣說(shuō)。
總統(tǒng)辦公室沒(méi)有立即給出答復(fù)。
這家原定于12月開(kāi)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(lián)合國(guó)指定的世界遺產(chǎn)。
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(fù)責(zé)管理遺址的國(guó)家人類(lèi)學(xué)會(huì)則表示沃爾瑪分店的修建對(duì)遺址并沒(méi)有威脅。
但是當(dāng)?shù)氐目棺h者們則認(rèn)為沃爾瑪折扣店會(huì)對(duì)遺址造成破壞，擠垮小型商店，改變這一地區(qū)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(kāi)設(shè)分店）會(huì)帶來(lái)更多變化，比如麥當(dāng)勞和肯德基炸雞店（的涌入）?！毙≌f(shuō)家、詩(shī)人和活動(dòng)家席霍梅羅·阿里德吉斯說(shuō)。
美國(guó)的活動(dòng)家們有時(shí)能夠通過(guò)抗議活動(dòng)成功阻止沃爾瑪修建分店。
然而，還是有人盼望著開(kāi)設(shè)低價(jià)商店，以及隨之而來(lái)的就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)。
沒(méi)有人可以確定是誰(shuí)建造了這些被認(rèn)為在公元600年左右被遺棄的金字塔。
后來(lái)阿茲特克人（16世紀(jì)前的墨西哥土著）來(lái)到這里，將它命名為特奧蒂瓦坎——人變?yōu)樯竦牡胤健?
在沃爾瑪分店修建期間，發(fā)掘出一座小的祭壇，它將被保存在停車(chē)場(chǎng)里。
（中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)站譯） |
Updated: 2004-10-19 10:05