VOA常速英语2014--Venezuela's Anti-American Rhetoric Unites Government Supporters 委内瑞拉反美言论联合政府支持者

 

Venezuela's Anti-American Rhetoric¹ Unites Government Supporters 委内瑞拉反美言论联合政府支持者

Officials in Venezuela have repeatedly accused the United States of orchestrating anti-government demonstrations² in the South American country. While the United States provides funding to human rights groups and organizations that promote democracy in Venezuela, U.S. authorities deny they support political opposition³ parties or play a  part in the current Venezuelan crisis.

President Nicolas Maduro has time and again accused the United States of trying to destabilize the Venezuelan government by providing aid and support to anti-government protests there.

总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗一再指责美国为反政府抗议活动提供援助和支持试图动摇委内瑞拉政府。

"Elements of America's power structure and their internal subordinates seek to demoralize, to blemish⁴ the armed forces,” he said.

“美国的权力结构及其内在下属使得武装力量士气低落并受到伤害,”他说道。

While no evidence has been presented,

尽管没有证据,

anti-America rhetoric has been an effective political tactic⁵ to unite his party.

但反美言论一直是一种统一他政党的有效政治策略。

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The late President Hugo Chavez often accused the United States of supporting opposition groups and playing a role in an attempted military coup⁶ in Venezuela in 2002.

已故总统乌戈·查韦斯经常指责美国支持反对派并且曾经于2002年介入委内瑞拉发动军事政变。

The United States denies involvement,

美国否认事件的介入,

but Latin American analyst⁷ Michael Shifter, with the Inter-America Dialogue, says many observers remain skeptical⁸.

但美洲对话的拉美分析师迈克尔·希福特表示许多观察人士仍持怀疑态度。

“Certainly the United States expressed great pleasure after that coup,

“政变后美国当然表示十分高兴,

which I think was really a terrible mistake during the Bush administration," he said.

我认为这真的是布什政府期间所犯下的一个可怕错误,”他说道。

"And I think it raised a lot of questions.”

“我认为这引发了很多问题。”

Chavez accused the United States of providing aid to opposition groups under the guise⁹ of supporting human rights and democracy development.

查韦斯曾指责美国打着支持人权和民主发展的旗号向反对派提供援助。

These are the same charges Maduro is making today.

这些都是马杜罗今天所做出的同样指控。

State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki defends U.S. support for basic human rights.

美国国务院发言人简·帕斯基维护美国基本的人权支持。

"We have serious concerns about some issues in Venezuela,

“我们对于委内瑞拉的一些问题表示深切关注,

including democracy and human rights, and we will continue to express those concerns,” she said.

包括民主和人权,而我们会继续表示关注,”她说道。

Human rights, democracy and free press groups often have adversarial relationships with those in power.

人权、民主和自由媒体组织往往与当权者势不两立。

"Basically human rights organizations,whether it is Venezuela or any other country in the world,

“无论是委内瑞拉还是世界上其他任何国家的基本人权组织，

they work to avoid, denounce, confront human rights violations¹⁰ committed by state agents,” said Santiago Canton, director of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.

他们为了避免公开谴责,面对国家所承诺的侵犯人权而工作,” 罗伯特·肯尼迪司法与人权中心主任圣地亚哥·卡顿说道。

Shifter says the Obama administration has drawn¹¹ a policy line between supporting democracy and human rights and taking sides in a political conflict.

希福特表示奥巴马政府在支持民主，人权和政治冲突的偏袒中画了一条政策的分界线。

“It is much more careful, much more deliberate,

“这需要更加小心,更加深思熟虑,

much more low-key and clearly is careful not to cross the line into political organizing,” he said.

更低调,显然要注意不要为了政治组织越线,”他说道。

Some in Congress want to increase funding to democracy groups in Venezuela,

国会中的一些人想要增加委内瑞拉民主团体的资金投入,

but Shifter says the perception of U.S. involvement would take the focus away from the deteriorating¹² economic and security conditions in the country and give Venezuela's leaders a foreign enemy to blame.

 

但希福特表示感觉美国介入将注意力从委内瑞拉不断恶化的全国经济和安全状况转移开,给这个国家的领导人一个可以指责的外国敌人。

1 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 blemish   

v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点

参考例句：

• The slightest blemish can reduce market value.只要有一点最小的损害都会降低市场价值。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

5 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

6 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

9 guise   

n.外表，伪装的姿态

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors.他们假装成视察员进了学校。
• The thief came into the house under the guise of a repairman.那小偷扮成个修理匠进了屋子。

10 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

11 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

12 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。