经济学人:委内瑞拉 政治宣传改头换面(2)

 　　Its main weapon was, and remains¹, state control of television, which repeats endlessly the risible² claim that Venezuela is a victim of an economic war. 在查韦斯时代，他们主要的宣传武器是电视，现在仍是电视，即由国家控制电视，通过电视不断的发表关于委内瑞拉是经济战的受害者的声明。

　　Broadcasts by the president can last as long as a double-feature. 总统录制的广播节目几乎等于两部电影的时长了。

　　Lacking Chavez's charisma³, Mr Maduro hopes to come across as cuddly⁴ in his up-close-and-personal videos (and a salsa show on radio). 没有了查韦斯那样的感召力，Maduro 先生希望通过他录制的近距离小视频可以给人们留下好印象。

　　Venezuelans are not beguiled⁵. 委内瑞拉人民并没有被总统的视频所欺骗。

　　The films show a falta de respeto (lack of respect), many say. 很多人说，这些视频的内容没有展示出对人民的尊重。

　　“I think he actually enjoys laughing at us,” says Daniel Torres, an engineering student. 一个工程系的学生Daniel Torres说：“我觉得他以嘲笑我们为乐趣。”

　　Venezuelans are especially annoyed by a video of the president, resplendent in a white tracksuit, playing catch with Diosdado Cabello, the thuggish former president of the national assembly. 委内瑞拉人民尤其很讨厌其中的一个视频，在视频中，总统身着高档白色运动服和Diosdado Cabello（残暴的前国民大会议长）玩棒球。

　　“A democratic game, a constitutional game,” sniggers Mr Cabello. Diosdado Cabello暗笑道，“棒球是大众的游戏，保健的游戏”。

　　He helped plan many of the government's assaults on democracy, including a botched attempt in March to transfer the powers of the legislature,  Diosdado Cabello帮助计划了许多次对政府民主制度的攻击，包括在三月试图转移立法机关权利的一次失败尝试，

　　now controlled by the opposition⁶, to the supreme⁷ court, which takes orders from the government. 听命于政府的最高法院现在被反对党控制了。

　　“We are working,” promises Mr Maduro, as he tosses the ball back to his partner in misrule. Maduro先生边把球投向他施行暴政的伙伴，一边回应道：“我们正在玩就是即大众又保健的游戏。”

　　For Alberto Barrera Tyszka, an essayist, the video shows the “decadence” of chavismo. 评论家Alberto Barrera Tyszka认为这个视频表明了查尔斯主义的衰落。

　　The images of frolicking well-fed politicians are an insult to the “poverty of Venezuelans”, most of whom have lost weight over the past two years, he has written. 肚满肥肠的政客们嬉戏的形象是在侮辱委内瑞拉的贫穷，他还写道，他们中的大多数人在过去的两年里还减重了。

　　One of Mr Maduro's clips shows him driving through a poor neighbourhood of Caracas to show off the apparent cheerfulness of the locals. Maduro上传的其中一个视频是他开车通过加拉加斯的贫民区，去向当地人炫耀喜悦之情。

　　A wall scrawled⁸ with the words, “Maduro, murderer of students”, is clearly visible as he drives past, but not to the oblivious⁹ president. 而在他驶过的道路两旁墙上却有几个清晰的大字“Maduro是谋杀学生的犯人”，Maduro总统却视而不见。

　　Chavistas used to be good at propaganda. Chavistas总统曾经十分擅长政治宣传。

　　Now they cannot even get that right. 但现在的这些领导人却做不到。

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 risible   

adj.能笑的；可笑的

参考例句：

• The entire proposal is risible.这个建议完全是荒唐可笑的。
• He drew a risible picture on the wall.他在墙上画了一张滑稽的画。

3 charisma   

n.(大众爱戴的)领袖气质，魅力

参考例句：

• He has enormous charisma. He is a giant of a man.他有超凡的个人魅力，是个伟人。
• I don't have the charisma to pull a crowd this size.我没有那么大的魅力，能吸引这么多人。

4 cuddly   

adj.抱着很舒服的，可爱的

参考例句：

• The beautiful crib from Mom and Dad is so cuddly.爸爸妈妈送的漂亮婴儿床真舒服。
• You can't call a hedgehog cuddly.你不能说刺猬逗人喜爱。

5 beguiled   

v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等）

参考例句：

• She beguiled them into believing her version of events. 她哄骗他们相信了她叙述的事情。
• He beguiled me into signing this contract. 他诱骗我签订了这项合同。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 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。

7 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。

8 scrawled   

乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。
• Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字：“请你收下吧，我多得是哩。”

9 oblivious   

adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的

参考例句：

• Mother has become quite oblivious after the illness.这次病后，妈妈变得特别健忘。
• He was quite oblivious of the danger.他完全没有察觉到危险。