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79 世界反贪组织声称南美腐败非常严重
Group says South American Corruption Below Average
Nico Colombant
Rio de Janeiro
28 Jun 2001 05:15 UTC
The world anti-1)corruption organization, Transparency International, places South American countries below average in its annual corruption index. But officials from the group say South America is currently experiencing a 2)crusade to 3)purify public life, which could lead to a reduction of general corruption.
Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela all score below three on the one to ten scale of corruption 4)perception, with one being the worst. Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and Peru all score below 4.1, meaning corruption is 5)prevalent in all these countries in South America.
But officials from Transparency International say a long-held 6)regional culture of 7)impunity for political and military officials involved in corruption is beginning to 8)crumble.
Karen Hussman, the Transparency International regional director in Latin America, notes the recent 9)capture of former Peruvian spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos and the 10)judicial proceedings against Argentina's former President Carlos Menem. "I think that cases like [Carlos] Menem, [Vladimiro] Montesinos and the whole corruption network in Peru which came to light are having an effect on the region's 11)consciousness that corruption really is one of the underlying 12)obstacles to more democratic development, to more social and economic equity," she says. "I think it has also shed light on the 13)dimension of political corruption."
In Peru, a representative of Transparency International, Carlos Morelli, says he hopes the new administration of President-elect Alejandro Toledo will avoid making the same mistakes as the team of Mr. Montesinos and 14)disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori. "I think this is one of the milestones in the fight against corruption to capture Montesinos," he says. "The example is dramatic of course. It's very difficult for us to recognize how big this corruption system was in the country but it's a nice opportunity for the new president, for [Mr.] Toledo, to organize the government, the civil society and the private sector in order to 15)avoid this really terrible system of corruption."
Mr. Morelli hopes the 1996 Inter-American 16)convention against corruption will give Peru the power to force Mr. Fujimori back to the country to face charges. Mr. Fujimori fled to Japan, his ancestral homeland, where he has been staying in self-imposed 17)exile since last year.
Sitting presidents in the region also face higher standards of 18)accountability. Opposition leaders in Brazil are pushing for a 19)probe into alleged corruption in the administration of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
Paraguay's President Luis Gonzalez Macchi, who was recently discovered driving a stolen car, faces calls for his 20)impeachment.
At the same time, countries in the region are voting in new leaders who have made rooting out official corruption their prime goal, including Argentina's Fernando de la Rua and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.
But the entanglement of political webs of corruption can be 21)far-reaching. Under judicial questioning in Lima, Mr. Montesinos is quoted as saying he had breakfast with Mr. Chavez before being handed over to Peruvian authorities in Venezuela last week.
(1) corruption[kE5rQpF(E)n]n.腐败, 贪污, 堕落
(2) crusade[kru:5seId]n.宗教战争, 改革运动vi.投身正义运动
(3) purify[5pjJErIfaI]vt.使纯净v.净化
(4) perception[pE5sepF(E)n]n.理解,感知,感觉
(5) prevalent[5prevElEnt]adj.普遍的, 流行的
(6) regional[5ri:dVEn(E)l]adj.整个地区的, 地方地, 地域性地
(7) impunity[Im5pju:nItI]n.不受惩罚, 免罚, 无患
(8) crumble[5krQmb(E)l]v.弄碎, 粉碎, 崩溃n.面包屑
(9) capture[5kAptFE(r)]n.捕获, 战利品vt.俘获, 捕获, 夺取
(10) judicial[dVu:5dIF(E)l]adj.司法的, 法院的, 公正的
(11) consciousness[5kRnFEsnIs]n.意识, 知觉,觉悟, 个人思想
(12) obstacle[5RbstEk(E)l]n.障碍, 妨害物
(13) dimension[dI5menF(E)n]n.尺寸, 尺度
(14) disgrace[dIs5^reIs]n.耻辱, 失宠, 丢脸的人(或事)v.玷污
(15) avoid[E5vCId]vt.避免, 消除
(16) convention[kEn5venF(E)n]n.大会, 协定, 习俗, 惯例
(17) exile[5eksaIl, 5e^saIl]n.放逐, 充军, 流放vt.流放, 使背井离乡
(18) accountability[E9kaJntE`bIlEtI]n.有责任, 有义务, 可说明性
(19) probe into v.探究, 探索
(20) impeachment n.弹劾, 指摘
(21) far-reaching adj.深远的, 伸至远处的, 广大的
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