VOA慢速英语--安哥拉新总统承诺消灭腐败

Angola’s New President Promises to Kill Corruption¹

Angola’s new president, Jo?o Louren?o, has been in the news since taking office four months ago.

Louren?o has made a number of moves, such as dismissing high-level officials. He says the moves are part of his campaign promise to fight corruption and rebuild the country’s economy.

In December, he removed Isabel dos Santos, a daughter of former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, from her job as head of Angola’s oil company.

Earlier this month, the new president ousted² Jose Filomena dos Santos, the son of the former president, as head of the nation’s $5 billion sovereign wealth fund. The program is meant to support growth, economic conditions and social development across the country.

Angola watchers say Louren?o's actions are meant to fuel an economy that has long depended on oil exports and foreign investment.

Alex Vines works for the London-based Chatham House research group. He says the president has earned a nickname by dismissing top officials. Vines likens him to “The Terminator,” the killer³ cyborg played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1984 film.

The dos Santos family expected change after Louren?o became president, Vines told VOA. “…What none of the family, I think, recognized was that change would come so quickly,” he said.

Vines thinks that has to do with the fact that Angola could not support the sort of business model that happened in the last years of the dos Santos presidency⁴.

“They’ve been removed out of their positions much more quickly than anybody would have imagined; hence, the nickname for Jo?o Louren?o in Angola now, which is 'The Terminator.'"

‘He had to do it’

Paula Roque, another Angola watcher, is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Unlike others, she is not yet willing to give the new president too much credit as a reformer.

She told VOA the dismissals are important, but he had to do it.

“You can’t run a country, you certainly can’t reform an economy, without taking the lead or the control, of the revenues. And the oil company was certainly one of them. The sovereign wealth fund was created for rainy days, and Angola’s certainly going through a crisis. So he really didn’t have much of an option but to do what he did.”

But the changes are far from a complete ouster of the country’s top leadership. Observers and anti-corruption groups have estimated that the dos Santos family still controls billions of dollars worth of government resources.

Paula Roque said that in reality, Isabel (dos Santos) still controls the diamond industry in Angola.

"So it goes much deeper than just having key positions that we know of. We’re talking about holding companies, shell companies, we’re talking about the use of state resources to invest in private enterprises."

‘The tip of the iceberg⁵’

Rafael Marques de Morais is an Angolan-based anti-corruption campaigner. He believes Louren?o’s moves only serve to direct attention away from his lack of an economic plan.

“The president’s children were only the tip of the iceberg, and he only dealt with the tip of the iceberg,” he told VOA from Luanda, Angola’s capital. “And now people are realizing he has not terminated the iceberg, but just broke some ice. I think at this point that people are realizing that this is just a show, because he doesn’t have a clear economic policy.”

Economists⁶ have, however, praised the government’s recent moves, like the announcement last week that Angola would repay its $5 billion debt by 2019.

But Louren?o has also been criticized by anti-corruption activists⁷ for defending the nation’s former vice⁸ president. Manuel Vicente is accused of offering money to a Portuguese⁹ judge when he served as head of Angola’s state-operated oil company. Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975.

Vicente’s corruption trial began this week in Lisbon. Portuguese officials have has refused to move the case to Angola. The officials have said they don’t believe he will be fully¹⁰ investigated if he comes back home.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

sovereign fund – n. a state-owned investment program

cyborg – n. a person whose body contains mechanical or electronic devices; a bionic human being

revenue – n. earnings¹¹, especially money earned by a company or organization

option – n. a thing that may be chosen

resource – n. a supply of money, property or other materials

shell company - n. a company without active business operations

iceberg – n. a large piece of ice that is floating in open water

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

3 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

6 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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》

8 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。

9 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。