VOA慢速英语2019 海地贫困社区陷入无政府状态（在线收听）

Poor Neighborhoods in Haiti Descend into Anarchy

Venite Bernard's feet are bloodied because she did not have time to get her shoes when she fled her home with her youngest children.

Bernard and her family lived in the poorest part of Haiti's capital, where gunmen have been known to shoot people in their homes. Now they live safely inside the town hall of Cite Soleil in Port-au-Prince.

韦纳特·伯纳德（Vinite Bernard）的脚被流血了，因为她带着最小的孩子逃离家时没有时间拿鞋。

伯纳德和她的家人居住在海地首都最贫穷的地区，那里有枪手在家里枪杀人。现在他们安全地生活在太子港的Cite Soleil市政厅内。

More than 200 other Haitians also are camped out there. They all fled part of what many civic leaders say is Haiti's worst lawlessness in more than 10 years.

"Bandits entered the homes of some people and beat them, and they were shooting," Bernard said as she cried. "Everyone was running so I left as quickly as I could with the children."

也有200多个其他海地人在那里扎营。他们全部逃离了许多公民领袖所说的海地十多年来最严重的违法行为。

伯纳德哭着说：“匪徒进入了一些人的房屋，殴打他们，他们正在射击。” “每个人都在奔跑，所以我尽可能快地带着孩子们走了。”

United Nations peacekeeping troops withdrew from Haiti in 2017 after 15 years. At the time, UN officials said the force had helped to re-establish law and order.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Nearly 60 percent of the population survives on less than $2.40 a day.

联合国维持和平部队在15年后于2017年从海地撤出。当时，联合国官员说，这支部队帮助重建了法律和秩序。

海地是西半球最贫穷的国家。近60％的人口每天的生活费不足$ 2.40。

But the withdrawal of the UN peacekeepers meant reduced security. Haitian police forces have been moved out of the area to provide security at protests against President Jovenel Moise.

"They have been unable to contain the activity of gangs as they might have wished," said Serge Therriault, the UN's police commissioner in Haiti.

A weak economy, rising inflation and a lack of investment in poorer areas has led to an increase in crime. Some neighborhoods have become places where everyone is afraid to go.

Diplomats fear the situation in Haiti represents a growing threat to that part of the Caribbean. They say it could affect migration, drugs and weapons trafficking.

经济疲软，通货膨胀率上升以及在贫困地区缺乏投资导致犯罪率上升。一些社区已成为每个人都不敢去的地方。

外交人员担心，海地的局势对加勒比那部分地区构成越来越大的威胁。他们说，这可能会影响移民，毒品和武器贩运。

The United States House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on Haiti on Tuesday, its first in 20 years.

Moise's critics say he has lost control of the country and should resign. The president says the situation is already calming down and he will carry out his full term.

美国众议院外交事务委员会星期二在海地举行了听证会，这是二十年来的第一次。

莫伊斯（Moise）的批评家说，他已经失去了对该国的控制权，应该辞职。总统说情况已经平静下来，他将履行整个任期。

Haitians say gangs fight over neighborhoods where they demand "protection" money and carry out drug and arms sales.

Some politicians are using the gangs to repress or incite protests. They are also providing weapons and assisting the worst of the criminals, according to human rights experts and Haitians.

海地人说，帮派在需要“保护”资金并进行毒品和军火销售的街区争夺。

一些政客正在利用帮派镇压或煽动抗议。人权专家和海地人说，他们还提供武器并协助最严重的罪犯。

"When those in power pay them, the bandits stop the population from participating in the anti-government protests," said William Dorélu, who lives in Cite Soleil. "When they receive money from the opposition, they force people to take to the streets."

Both opposition leaders and the government deny the accusations.

“当权者付钱给他们时，土匪阻止民众参加反政府抗议活动，”住在太阳城的威廉·多雷卢说。 “当他们从反对派那里得到钱时，他们迫使人们走上街头。”

反对派领导人和政府均否认这一指控。

Impunity Breeds Crime

Moise told the Reuters news agency last month he was trying to strengthen Haiti's police force. He also said he had reestablished a committee to get gangs to disarm.

The president wrote in a statement to Reuters on Tuesday that accusations of violence will be investigated and brought to justice.

莫伊斯上个月告诉路透社，他正试图加强海地的警察队伍。他还说，他已经重新建立了一个委员会，让黑帮解除武装。

总统在周二向路透社发表的声明中写道，将对暴力指控进行调查并将其绳之以法。

Critics accuse the president and his administration of failing to arrest gang leaders. The criminals feel free to do as they want and the police are too weak to stop them.

"Every time the police stop a gangster, there is always the intervention...to free them," said Pierre Esperance. He directs Haiti's National Human Rights Defense Network, RNDDH. The group watches for human rights violations.

评论家指责总统及其政府没有逮捕帮派头目。罪犯可以随心所欲地做事，而警察也太软弱无法阻止他们。

皮埃尔·埃斯佩兰斯（Pierre Esperance）表示：“警察每次阻止黑帮，总会有干预行动……以释放他们。”他领导海地国家人权防御网络RNDDH。该小组注意侵犯人权行为。

Esperance spoke at the U.S. congressional hearing. He said that more than 40 police officers had been killed this year, compared with 17 in 2018.

One year ago, there was a massacre in the neighborhood of La Saline, where anti-Moise feelings are strong, rights activists say.

埃斯佩兰斯在美国国会听证会上讲话。他说，今年有40多名警察被杀，而2018年有17名。

维权人士说，一年前，在拉萨琳（La Saline）附近发生了一起大屠杀，那里有强烈的反动情绪。

Over two days, gunmen killed at least 26 people while police failed to stop the violence, said a UN report. Eyewitnesses named in the report say they saw a government official with the gang. It is possible the gangs and government officials are working together, the UN wrote.

The government later dismissed the official, who denied any involvement. Neither he nor anyone else has been arrested or brought to trial over the massacre.

联合国的一份报告说，在两天的时间里，枪手杀死了至少26人，而警察未能制止暴力。报告中提到的目击者说，他们看到了该团伙的政府官员。联合国写道，这些帮派和政府官员可能一起工作。

政府后来解雇了这位官员，后者否认有任何参与。他和其他任何人都没有因大屠杀而被捕或被审判。

The information about the La Saline massacre "is in the hands of the justice system," Moise told Reuters.

People living in La Saline say they feel abandoned.

莫伊斯告诉路透社，有关“盐湖大屠杀”的信息“在司法系统手中”。

住在La Saline的人们说他们感到被抛弃。

"We never received an official visit after these events," said Marie Lourdes Corestan. She found her 24-year old son's body in a pile with other bodies.

There have been six massacres since Moise took office, said the RNDDH, the most recent one last month.

玛丽·卢尔德·科斯坦（Marie Lourdes Corestan）说：“这些事件发生后，我们从未得到过正式访问。”她发现24岁儿子的遗体与其他遗体成堆。

RNDDH说，自Moise上任以来已经发生了六起屠杀事件，上个月是最近一次。

The U.N.'s Therriault said a recent lessening of protests is helping police officers get control of the security situation.

But many, including Bernard, say they are too afraid. She has not been able to find her two oldest sons.

联合国的Therriault说，最近抗议活动的减少正在帮助警察控制安全局势。

但是包括伯纳德在内的许多人说他们太害怕了。她一直找不到她的两个大儿子。

"I hope my boys are not dead," she said. "I wish for the end of this violence, and that God helps us to find somewhere to live."

她说：“我希望我的孩子们还没死。” “我希望这场暴力的终结，并希望上帝帮助我们找到生活的地方。”

Words In This Story

town hall – n. a public building used for government offices and meetings

bandits – n. criminals

hemisphere – n. half of an round object, such as a planet

gang – n. a group of people working together on unlawful activities

according – adv. as stated by or in

massacre – n. an event in which a large number of people are killed

abandon – v. to give up control of another person or territory