Officials of Oaxaca, Mexico, have turned down an application by McDonald’s to open an outlet in a 500-year-old plaza at the center of town. "There are values that we have to preserve, such as our traditions and culture," city leader Gabino Cue Monteagudo said. A local ordinance allows local officials to reject development projects that endanger the city’s cultural heritage.

As we reported in the last issue of this newsletter, residents organized a spirited campaign against the global fast-food chain that including gathering more than 10,000 signatures and handing out free tamales in the plaza.

• November 2002 issue of the Bulletin

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