TEOTIHUACAN, MEXICO –
Less than one mile from the most visited archaeological site in Mexico, U.S.-based retail giant Walmart is readying to break ground on a supercenter.
The store’s neighbors will be the pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, the numerous temples and the Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan, estimated to be more than 1,400 years old.
“There are 2.5 million plus annual visitors to the site and data suggests 60% are frequent Walmart shoppers,” Walmart spokesman Kenneth Marcon said. “Plus there are many financially struggling locals who we believe will benefit from our low prices. We understand this is a UNESCO world heritage site and respect that, but our customers still need easy access to low priced products and services no matter where they go. We put our customers first, always.”
Walmart has faced a small, but strong local opposition.
“We’ll put a stop to this with demolition, because a transnational corporation can’t just come and trample on our historical patrimony, Lorenzo Trujillo, head of the Civic Front for the Defense of the Valley of Teotihuacan, a group that represents some 100 local residents from the area around the world-renowned archaeological zone said. “If demolition gets stopped, we’ll loot the store and give away Walmart products to the poor.”
Walmart isn’t taking the threats lightly.
“We’re aware of the threats that have been made by Civic Front and we will not tolerate any hostile action they may take. People need to understand this group is very small and data shows most people in the area see our presence as progress.”
Walmart said to combat potential violence they have hired an unnamed private-security company who will be present during store construction and likely remain on-site in the early months of operation.
The National Council for Culture and the Arts (UNESCO) has lobbied Walmart leaders, the president of Mexico, and even leaders from around the world to stop construction but have found no support.
“To our surprise, we did not make many inroads. We tried to find irregularities in the building permits, but they weren’t there. Many permitting laws had been changed in the last two years to obviously accommodate Walmart. We are fairly certain buy offs played a big role in getting this project approved.”
“We respect UNESCO as an organization,” Marcon said. “But we feel their complaint that we are destroying a historic site is unfounded. We think the Aztecs would be proud. We feel the spirit of our company was much like the spirit of the of the Aztecs. Both leaders in innovation.”
It should be noted that the name Teotihuacan came from the Aztecs, who discovered the abandoned buildings around the year 1300, but The Aztecs did not actually contruct the site.
Walmart later apologized for the factual error, but said they still share the same innovative spirit as the site’s architects.