美国国家公共电台 NPR--Haiti is dealing with multiple crises. Is international intervention the answer?

Haiti is dealing¹ with multiple crises. Is international intervention² the answer?

Transcript³

Haiti is experiencing high levels of gang violence, crime, poverty and disease that has intensified⁴ since last year's assassination⁵ of the president.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Haiti is a country on the verge⁶ of collapse⁷. Cholera⁸ is spreading. Food and fuel prices are out of control. And the gangs of Port-au-Prince have a stranglehold on much of the capital, including the main oil terminal. Added to this, there's a political crisis. Prime Minister Ariel Henry is struggling to maintain his grip on power, with protesters regularly taking to the streets to demand his removal. His decision to ask the outside world to send a specialized⁹ armed force has only served to inflame¹⁰ people's anger. Eyder Peralta is in Haiti's capital, Port-Au-Prince, and joins us now.

Good morning, Eyder.

EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE¹¹: Good morning, Leila.

FADEL: So there's a lot of talk of Haiti on the brink¹². Is this borne out by what you've seen and heard in the past few days?

PERALTA: Yeah. Things are dire¹³. The government seems absent - I mean, from the little things, like trash not getting picked up so it's piling up on the streets, to serious things. As you mentioned, some parts of Port-au-Prince are under siege. Gangs have erected¹⁴ blockades. And for more than five weeks now, they have not allowed fuel trucks to get gasoline from the fuel depots¹⁵.

And just across the airport, there are thousands of people who have built a makeshift camp at Hugo Chavez Square. And these are people who have been pushed out of their neighborhood by violence. And it was there that I met Fabiola Julme washing clothes in a bucket. She says as a new gang took over her neighborhood, they burnt down her house. They didn't care that she had nothing to do with the rival gang, that she was just a mother trying to live.

FABIOLA JULME: (Through interpreter) They don't need to identify who you are. As long as you live in that area, in that neighborhood, they will just come. They will kill you. They will burn your house. They will burn your body.

PERALTA: Do you have any hope that the government can fix this?

JULME: (Through interpreter) I don't see hope because there is no police now in Cite Soleil. All police officers left.

PERALTA: Even here at this camp, the government is completely absent. Even though there is a cholera outbreak, there's no clean drinking water. People are sleeping on wet ground in makeshift tents. One man walks across the camp screaming in disbelief, how can we live like this?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Creole).

PERALTA: In another corner, Shelan Joseph cradles her baby. He's 2, but he's tiny. Malnutrition¹⁶ has lightened his hair. And he's so skinny you can see his bones through his skin. Joseph says she's been trying to breastfeed him, but all he does is cry.

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: She cannot really feed a baby.

PERALTA: So he's not eating, like, food.

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: No.

SHELAN JOSEPH: (Through interpreter) When you try to feed him, he vomits¹⁷ the food.

PERALTA: She hasn't taken him to the doctor.

JOSEPH: (Through interpreter) No money. I don't have money.

PATRICE DUMONT: It's a collapse. (Speaking French). It's a collapse.

PERALTA: That is Senator Patrice Dumont. He says Haiti is at a breaking point.

DUMONT: (Through interpreter) We have no justice. We are supposed to have 30 members for the Senate. We only have 10. Our economy is completely destroyed.

PERALTA: Dumont says for decades, corrupt¹⁸ politicians have armed gangs for personal gains. The assassination of President Jovenel Moise last year created a power vacuum, and now the gangs are out of control. They've attacked police stations. For five weeks now, they've blocked the country's main fuel depots. And they are terrorizing the population.

DUMONT: (Speaking French).

PERALTA: The corruption¹⁹, he says, has now infected every corner of the country, and it's the Haitian people who are paying the price. We don't know yet where this outbreak of cholera came from, but recently cases have been rising fast. So the charity Doctors Without Borders has begun reopening treatment centers across Port-au-Prince.

JEAN-BAPTISTE MARION: In the first week, we were in the range of 30 admissions a week. Now in this third week we had about 150 admissions a day.

PERALTA: Jean-Baptiste Marion, the MSF project coordinator²⁰, walks through a treatment center. They have a generator²¹ because there is no reliable electricity, and some of their medical supplies have gotten stuck in the blockade.

MARION: The issue is how long is this going to last, and how long are we be able to sustain that situation?

PERALTA: He says they also suspect people suffering from cholera are stuck in their homes because of the insecurity. Gilen Bazile says she was sick for a week before she could finally make it here.

GILEN BAZILE: (Through interpreter) So I could not make it before because I had no money for transportation.

PERALTA: The blockade means that the price of everything has ballooned. She survived cholera, she says, but she spends her days thinking about how she will feed her kids. She spends nights thinking about the gunfire she hears outside.

BAZILE: (Through interpreter) We don't live anymore. Everything is difficult, and Haiti died. Do you understand that?

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing in non-English language).

PERALTA: The streets of Port-au-Prince are mostly empty these days, but the pews at St. Pierre Catholic Church are full on Sunday. Johnny Jean Baptiste, who's 29, says he used to come to church to pray for his family, to pray for his health, or sometimes his material needs.

JOHNNY JEAN BAPTISTE: (Through interpreter) And nowadays, one thing I'm asking God is to give us peace.

PERALTA: Does it feel like things can change?

BAPTISTE: (Through interpreter) As a young man, I believe that things can change because if things remain the same, that would be the end of my life.

PERALTA: I ask him if he means that literally²², and he says, absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing in non-English language).

FADEL: Wow, Eyder. I mean, it's hard to hear the desperation in people's voices - trying to survive violence, the mother who can't afford to help her malnourished baby. And then there's no one to turn to - the government absent, as they told you. So what's the solution? Is it international intervention?

PERALTA: I mean, that's complicated because pretty much everyone I've spoken to here think that an intervention is a bad idea. Haiti has a long history of international interventions²³, including a U.S. occupation, and none of it has led to any long-term solution. So people here have been protesting against the new intervention. And demonstrators plan to march to the U.N. compound today. But, you know, that desperation - because of that desperation, nearly everyone agrees that it's also hard to think of any other way to bring Haiti back from the brink.

FADEL: NPR's Eyder Peralta reporting from Port-Au-Prince.

Thank you so much, Eyder.

PERALTA: Thank you, Leila.

(SOUNDBITE OF ISATO NAKAGAWA'S "KAZE NO HAKUSHAKU FUJIN")

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

6 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

7 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

8 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

9 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

10 inflame   

v.使燃烧；使极度激动；使发炎

参考例句：

• Our lack of response seemed to inflame the colonel.由于我们没有反应,好象惹恼了那个上校。
• Chemical agents manufactured by our immune system inflame our cells and tissues,causing our nose to run and our throat to swell.我们的免疫系统产生的化学物质导致我们的细胞和组织发炎，导致我们流鼻水和我们的喉咙膨胀。

11 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

12 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

13 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

14 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

15 depots   

仓库( depot的名词复数 )； 火车站； 车库； 军需库

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。
• In the coastal cities are equipped with after-sales service and depots. 在各沿海城市均设有服务部及售后维修站。

16 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

17 vomits   

呕吐物( vomit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A baby vomits milk from repletion. 婴儿吃饱会吐奶。
• An active volcano vomits forth smoke and lava. 活火山喷出烟雾和熔岩。

18 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

19 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

20 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

21 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

22 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

23 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网