美国国家公共电台 NPR Killings Of Guatemala's Indigenous Activists Raise Specter Of Human Rights Crisis

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

In Guatemala, there's been a wave of killings¹ of indigenous² leaders over the last year. International human rights organizations have tried to raise the alarm, but in Guatemala itself, there's been little outrage³ and silence from most political leaders. Maria Martin reports.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Speaking Spanish).

MARIA MARTIN, BYLINE⁴: The newscast on Guatemala's TV channel Guatevision led off its regional evening report this past summer with the murder of a 25-year-old indigenous rights activist⁵ in the western province of Quiche.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Spanish).

MARTIN: The victim's father tells us that Juana Raymundo, a nurse by profession, was kidnapped while coming home two nights before her body was found in a river covered by brush showing signs of torture.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Spanish).

MARTIN: Raymundo was also a rising young Ixil Maya political leader, active in various human rights and political groups. To many in the area, her death was reminiscent of the massive atrocities⁶ committed during the country's long civil war, which ended a little over 20 years ago. More over, her death was not an isolated⁷ incident. According to The Washington Office on Latin America, 26 indigenous human rights workers were assassinated⁸ in the last year.

JO-MARIE BURT: Guatemala is on the verge⁹ of a major human rights catastrophe¹⁰.

MARTIN: Jo-Marie Burt is a professor at George Mason University and a senior fellow at The Washington Office on Latin America. She says Guatemala is close to falling into the violence that gripped the country three decades ago, a violence that the U.N. and Guatemalan courts say led to a genocide of the country's indigenous citizens.

BURT: It's amazing to look at what's happening in Guatemala, and it literally¹¹ feels like it's on the edge of the precipice¹². And just over that precipice, you're staring back at the 1970s. You're staring at the massive violation¹³ of human rights. It's no surprise that we see hundreds of - tens of thousands of Guatemalans fleeing the country, going into Mexico, trying to get to the United States to flee a country that is in freefall.

MARTIN: Guatemala's human rights ombudsman, Jordan Rodas, says the situation is troubling, especially because of what he calls a lack of concern on the part of Guatemala's authorities.

JORDAN RODAS: (Speaking Spanish).

MARTIN: Rodas says the president and his interior secretary refused an invitation to meet with Mayan leaders to discuss the escalating¹⁴ number of assassinations¹⁵.

RODAS: (Through interpreter) One feels a certain indignation that there's no public condemnation¹⁶ of these acts. I don't have much faith in this government. Hopefully, the Justice Department will take action on these cases because it's like going back to a past I thought we had put behind us.

MARTIN: The government didn't respond to multiple efforts seeking comment. Guatemalan society is deeply unequal. Indigenous Maya form at least 40 percent of the population but have little political representation and are last in terms of education and health.

(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Speaking Spanish).

MARTIN: More than half of the indigenous activists¹⁷ killed in the last year, including Juana Raymundo, were members of CODECA, an organization of mostly rural Mayan farmers which is trying to become a political force. Analysts¹⁸ say this poses a threat to the power structure in Guatemala. Anthropologist¹⁹ Irma Alicia Velasquez says Guatemala has entered what she calls a new stage of repression²⁰.

IRMA ALICIA VELASQUEZ: All the majority that the country produce is control in a few hands, so CODECA tried to talk about this, tried to change the situation. And for the reason, they are confront a lot of repression in the last years.

MARTIN: Velasquez says indigenous people in Guatemala are now up against powerful business interests bent²¹ on acquiring resources in Mayan communities. These interests, she says, are allied²² with the military-backed government fighting reforms and anti-corruption efforts. President Jimmy Morales just recently expelled an international anti-corruption commission which had investigated him and many of his allies. For NPR News, I'm Maria Martin.

(SOUNDBITE OF SUDUAYA'S "PATIENCE")

1 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

2 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

3 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

4 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。

5 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。

6 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

8 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

9 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。

10 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

11 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。

12 precipice   

n.悬崖，危急的处境

参考例句：

• The hut hung half over the edge of the precipice.那间小屋有一半悬在峭壁边上。
• A slight carelessness on this precipice could cost a man his life.在这悬崖上稍一疏忽就会使人丧生。

13 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

14 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

15 assassinations   

n.暗杀( assassination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Most anarchist assassinations were bungled because of haste or spontaneity, in his view. 在他看来，无政府主义者搞的许多刺杀都没成功就是因为匆忙和自发行动。 来自辞典例句
• Assassinations by Israelis of alleged terrorists habitually kill nearby women and children. 在以色列，自称恐怖分子的炸弹自杀者杀害靠近自己的以色列妇女和儿童。 来自互联网

16 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

17 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

19 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

20 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

21 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

22 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。