英闻天下——375 Venezuela and World Mourn Chavez's Death

 　　The government has declared seven days of national mourning to commemorate¹ the socialist² leader.

 

　　Opposition³ leader Henrique Capriles has also offered his condolences and appealed for unity⁴.

 

　　Hugo Chavez passed away at the age of 58 on Tuesday afternoon in a hospital in Caracas.

 

　　He lost a two-year battle with cancer after his condition suddenly worsened this week.

 

　　He came to power in 1999 after being released from prison for coordinating⁵ a military coup⁶ some years earlier.

 

　　He became very popular among the working-class community in Venezuela.

 

　　Last year Chavez was elected to another 6-year term in office, and shortly after that he flew to Cuba for a third cancer surgery.

 

　　At the moment, Vice⁷ President Nicolas Maduro has taken over the presidential duties temporarily, with an election scheduled within a month.

 

　　He is calling on the Venezuelan people to carry on Chavez's legacy⁸.

 

　　"We're going to miss him until the last day of our lives but we carry on his legacy here and we will carry it on with strength. May our people know that the democratic, revolutionary, anti-imperialist and socialist legacy of our Commandant is carried on with firmness, with absolute loyalty⁹."

 

　　Meanwhile, the international community have also joined the mourning, with the Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Hua Chunying, praising Chavez as a leader as well as a person.

 

　　"Chavez is an outstanding state leader of Venezuela. He is also a good friend of Chinese people, who made significant contributions to the development of the friendly cooperation between our two countries. The Communist Party of China, the Chinese government and the Chinese people all cherish the traditional friendship with Venezuela. We are willing to work with the Venezuelan side to continuously deepen bilateral¹¹ strategic partnership¹² based on common development so as to bring benefits to their people."

 

　　The United Nations Chief, Ban Ki Moon, has sent his condolences to Chavez's family.

 

　　"As President of Venezuela, he has been making his own contributions to his country's development. At the same time, as Secretary General, while I will be able to issue a more formal statement, I'd like to convey my deepest condolences to the families and people and the government of Venezuela on the loss of President Chavez on that."

 

　　US President Barack Obama meanwhile says they're also willing to improve ties with the Venezuelan government.

 

　　At the same time, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has declared three days of mourning and flags to be flown at half mast.

 

　　Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff calls the death an "irreparable loss" to the region, while leaders from Britain, Canada and France have also offered condolences to Venezuela.

 

　　For more on Chavez's death and its regional as well as global impact, CRI's Rebecca Hume earlier spoke¹⁰ with Latin American studies expert, Dr. Anthea Jones from the University of Canberra.

 

　　That was Dr. Anthea Jones from the University of Canberra, speaking to CRI's Rebecca Hume about the death of the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

1 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

6 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。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

9 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。

10 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。

11 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

12 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。