美国有线新闻 CNN 委内瑞拉爆发大规模抗议 国内持续动荡

 

A national holiday was held in the South American nation of Venezuela yesterday. It marked the beginning of the country's fight for independence against Spain, which it eventually got in 1811. But on the streets of the Venezuelan capital, there were protests instead of celebrations.

This is a troubled nation with a lot of problems. Its economy has been in recession for three years and counting. Its unemployment rate is expected to go higher than 25 percent this year. Inflation is skyrocketing. That's when prices go up and money buys less.

And opposition¹ political parties want the country's leader out of office. They accuse President Nicolas Maduro of creating a dictatorship over the past few years. He and his supporters pushed for a countermarch yesterday. President Maduro calls the opposition vandals, terrorists, and criminals, and he's threatened to, quote, "capture them."

The Venezuelan armed forces which have said they fully² support President Maduro have been deployed³ for as long as the marches last.

With all this going on, international pressure has been building on Venezuela's government. The Organization of American States, which includes every government in the western hemisphere, says that unless Venezuela holds democratic elections, it could be suspended from the group.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Turmoil⁴ in Venezuela has been exacerbated⁵ recently by three major incidents happening in a short period of time. First, on March 29th, the Venezuelan supreme⁶ court dissolved the parliament, transferring all legislative⁷ powers to itself.

The move effectively meant the three branches of the Venezuelan were controlled by the ruling United Socialist⁸ Party.

The opposition was outraged⁹. They called the move a coup¹⁰. The decision was reversed three days later, but protests had already erupted.

On Friday, April 7th, the government notified main opposition leader Henrique Capriles that he had been banned from doing any political work for 15 years. The 44-year-old governor who has run for president twice said the government was again acting¹¹ like a dictatorship.

Then, on April 10th, after several days of violent protests, a 20-year-old student died in the city of Valencia after he was shot in the neck during a demonstration¹² when police opened fire. He was one of several young people who have recently died in clashes with security forces. Their deaths have brought even more people out into the streets.

The opposition also complains that a state and local election should have been held months ago and that the government is dragging its feet. A collapsed¹³ economy that has led to shortages of food and medicine for years has also made for a very volatile¹⁴ situation on the streets of Caracas and other Venezuelan cities— a combustible¹⁵ mix that has once again caught fire.

Rafael Romo, CNN.

1 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。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

4 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

5 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

8 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

9 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

10 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。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

13 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

14 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

15 combustible   

a. 易燃的,可燃的; n. 易燃物,可燃物

参考例句：

• Don't smoke near combustible materials. 别在易燃的材料附近吸烟。
• We mustn't take combustible goods aboard. 我们不可带易燃品上车。