美国国家公共电台 NPR After Barcelona Attacks, Catalans Look Ahead To Independence Vote

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Many Europeans have become accustomed to seeing candlelight vigils and piles of flowers in city squares - memorials to terror victims. They're in Paris, Berlin, London and now Barcelona, where ISIS plowed¹ a van into pedestrians² last month.

As Lauren Frayer reports from that city, the commemorations in Barcelona have been different. They're colored by the region's upcoming independence referendum.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Chanting) No tinc por. No tinc por.

LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE³: No tinc por. I am not afraid, they chant in a local Catalan language at vigils and marches across Barcelona since ISIS killed 16 people in and around the city. When Spain's king joined marchers last weekend in solidarity⁴ with the terror victims, the tone changed.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Foreign language chanted).

FRAYER: Locals booed and yelled at him to get out and go home to Madrid. Catalans are using that refrain - I am not afraid - to express defiance⁵ not only against terrorists but also against the Spanish state. Separatists rule this northeast region of Catalonia, which has its own culture. The ISIS attacks hit during a campaign for independence. So when Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy arrived several hours after the attacks, he called for unity⁶.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARIANO RAJOY: (Speaking Spanish).

FRAYER: That infuriated independence activist⁷ Liz Castro, an American convert to the Catalan cause.

LIZ CASTRO: Right after the attack, a lot of people in the independence movement had this feeling that the attack was being used by the Madrid press and politicians as a way of attacking independence. There were immediately editorials that said Catalans must give up this silly game of independence because this is really serious.

FRAYER: Catalan leaders say they will not give up. They'll go ahead with a referendum on October 1 and declare independence from Spain if the yes votes win. Madrid says the whole thing is unconstitutional.

The terror attacks have given Catalan and Spanish politicians one more thing to argue about. They trade barbs⁸ daily over which level of government - regional or national - is to blame for failing to detect ISIS militants⁹ before it was too late. When Catalonia's interior minister, Joaquim Forn, read out the names of the terror victims, he made a distinction between Catalans and Spanish nationals.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOAQUIM FORN: (Foreign language spoken).

FRAYER: "It was as if they are already from two different countries." Meanwhile, rank-and-file police officers are trying to get to the bottom of how a Muslim imam managed to quickly and quietly radicalize 12 local youth into ISIS attackers. Inspector¹⁰ Albert Oliva with the Catalan regional police says the regional and national forces have actually been working well together.

ALBERT OLIVA: (Through interpreter) Within 15 minutes of the attack, we set up a coordination¹¹ center together so to color the police response with controversies¹² and accusations¹³. That's the unfortunate work of politicians and the media.

FRAYER: Politicians and the media exploited the deadliest Islamist attack in Spain, the Madrid train bombings in 2004. Those attacks came days before national election, and the party favored to win lost. The Catalonia attacks happened six weeks before an independence referendum. And it's unclear how voters will react at the ballot¹⁴ box this time. For NPR News, I'm Lauren Frayer in Barcelona.

1 plowed   

v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• They plowed nearly 100,000 acres of virgin moorland. 他们犁了将近10万英亩未开垦的高沼地。 来自辞典例句
• He plowed the land and then sowed the seeds. 他先翻土，然后播种。 来自辞典例句

2 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 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。

4 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

5 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

6 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

8 barbs   

n.（箭头、鱼钩等的）倒钩( barb的名词复数 )；带刺的话；毕露的锋芒；钩状毛

参考例句：

• She slung barbs at me. 她说了些讥刺我的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I would no longer uncomplainingly accept their barbs or allow their unaccountable power to go unchallenged. 我不会再毫无怨言地洗耳恭听他们带刺的话，或让他们的不负责任的权力不受到挑战。 来自辞典例句

9 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

10 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

11 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

12 controversies   

争论

参考例句：

• We offer no comment on these controversies here. 对于这些争议，我们在这里不作任何评论。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon. 围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。 来自辞典例句

13 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

14 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。