美国国家公共电台 NPR--Authorities in Brazil have been rounding up rioters who attacked Congress

Authorities in Brazil have been rounding up rioters who attacked Congress

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with former U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Michael McKinley about the attack on Brazil's government and implications for U.S.-Brazil relations.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Brazilian authorities are investigating the origins of Sunday's attacks in the capital of Brasilia. The images, eerily² similar to the January 6 attacks in the United States, showed thousands of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro storming government buildings, beating a mounted police officer. Brazil's newly elected leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, accused the rioters of trying to overthrow³ democracy, and he blamed Bolsonaro for encouraging the violence with speeches and lies about Bolsonaro's election loss. For more, I'm joined by former U.S. Ambassador to Brazil, Michael McKinley. Good morning, Ambassador.

P MICHAEL MCKINLEY: Good morning, Leila.

FADEL: So I want to start with the democratic institutions in Brazil. This is the fourth-largest democracy in the world. After these attacks, are these institutions in real jeopardy⁴ now?

MCKINLEY: I don't think so. In fact, Brazilian democracy over the last 38 years since it was restored has gone from strength to strength. And you've seen mature, complex institutions evolve with a strong judiciary, Supreme⁵ Court, with a very active, powerful Congress, executive branch that works, incredibly free media environment, active civil society. And so while this assault is definitely of concern, I don't think there should be serious questions about what happens to Brazilian democracy going forward.

I would suggest that the events since Lula was elected on October 30 in the second round of presidential elections and to include a peaceful inauguration⁶ on January 1, attended by up to 300,000 people and 17 heads of state from around the world, actually demonstrated that despite very strong polarization in the society, it did not succumb⁷ to some of the tensions we saw after our November election in 2020, which culminated⁸ in January 6 with a very direct, concerted effort to overturn U.S. elections involving a president, senators, congressional representatives, state and election officials. What happened, though, is of great concern.

FADEL: But what there was concern around was the law enforcement and whether they were sympathetic, military walking with protesters to these buildings.

MCKINLEY: Brazilian security forces, like security in most countries, is layered. And so what was in evidence, at least so far, is questions about the commitment of the federal district - that is the capital police of Brasilia - to prevent the crowds from reaching the three key buildings, the presidential palace, the Congress and the Supreme Court. Fewer questions have been raised about the armed forces, for example, or the national police. And within hours, just as in Washington on January 6, the protesters were cleared. We've seen up to 1,500 people already detained. There were a series of encampments around the country outside of military barracks and official buildings.

And within 24 hours of what happened on January 8, there has been a concerted effort to remove these encampments from around - which were protests, peaceful protests, calling for military intervention⁹, were all removed or are in the stage of being removed - to include in the most important state in Brazil, Sao Paulo, where a governor who's seen as sympathetic and allied¹⁰ with Bolsonaro has been very firm in condemning¹¹ what happened on January 8 and moving to take action against any of these protests that have been taking place around the country over the last many weeks. So I would suggest that there's - should be less concern about the loyalty¹² of the security forces. But again, what happened raises a lot of concerns.

FADEL: Now, President Biden spoke¹³ with President da Silva yesterday and expressed his support. What kind of support should or can the U.S. extend, especially when it hasn't figured out how to tackle this exact problem at home?

MCKINLEY: Actually, what we've seen is the United States, since last year in the run-up to the election, been strongly supportive of Brazilian elections with visits by senior U.S. officials during the campaign to say there was a real need for democratic process to go forward. And since Lula's election, regular contact between President Biden and President Lula, phone calls, Secretary Blinken speaking with his counterpart shortly after the inauguration, invitation to the White House in February, I think a very strong relationship is in the process of being built up.

FADEL: Do you think this incident will affect the relationship between the U.S. and Brazil long term? It sounds like you think it's going to make it stronger.

MCKINLEY: I think it will. And in fact, we've seen this relationship strengthening because there are so many tough issues on the global stage that need to be addressed, from energy questions to food production to dealing¹⁴ with China and trade to regional tension points like Venezuela. And Brazil is a critical player on all of these questions and certainly on the key geostrategic, global macroeconomic issues, potentially a central player in finding responses to the challenges we face. So I think - and let me mention climate change, where special envoy¹⁵ John Kerry has already signaled his interest in working strongly with Brazil. And President-elect Lula at the time was in the Cairo climate summit, emphasizing that his government would take the issue very seriously going forward. There's plenty to work with.

FADEL: Former U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Michael McKinley, thank you so much for your time.

MCKINLEY: Thank you.

1 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。

2 eerily   

adv.引起神秘感或害怕地

参考例句：

• It was nearly mid-night and eerily dark all around her. 夜深了，到处是一片黑黝黝的怪影。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• The vast volcanic slope was eerily reminiscent of a lunar landscape. 开阔的火山坡让人心生怪异地联想起月球的地貌。 来自辞典例句

3 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

4 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

7 succumb   

v.屈服，屈从；死

参考例句：

• They will never succumb to the enemies.他们决不向敌人屈服。
• Will business leaders succumb to these ideas?商业领袖们会被这些观点折服吗？

8 culminated   

v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• a gun battle which culminated in the death of two police officers 一场造成两名警察死亡的枪战
• The gala culminated in a firework display. 晚会以大放烟火告终。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

11 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 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。

15 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。