VOA慢速英语--委内瑞拉总统有两个 食物却太少

Two Presidents, Too Little Food for Venezuelans

The United States says recognition of opposition¹ leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim² president is the only way to restore democracy in that country. Russia and China, however, continue to support President Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuelan Elizabeth Pineda is preparing for things to get even worse. A retiree, Pineda receives a monthly retirement³ pay of 18,000 bolivars, or about $6. She also earns money as a fortune teller⁴, telling people what she sees in their future. And, she says, the future is telling her that President Nicolas Maduro will not leave quickly or quietly.

“The government is going to strangle us even more with their bad decisions and shamelessness,” Pineda said while sharing a meal with two friends. The food cost under two dollars. But, the three friends said they did not have enough money individually to buy it.

Economists⁶ agree that Venezuelans are likely to suffer as the current situation between Guaido and Maduro continues.

Maduro appears to have the support of the country’s military. He has accused the U.S. and Guaido of plotting to overthrow⁷ him. Maduro says the U.S. then led other nations to recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s leader.

That makes it very hard for Maduro’s government to get and control its oil money and holdings overseas. The U.S.-based oil company Citgo is a subsidiary of Venezuela’s national oil company PDVSA. And Venezuela has $1.2 billion in gold in the Bank of England.

Maduro was elected to a second six-year term in hotly disputed elections held last May. Many opposition candidates were barred from competing for the office. Opposition parties boycotted⁸ the voting as a result. And the country’s National Assembly did not recognize the results.

Over the weekend, some European Union nations threatened to recognize Guaido as interim president if Maduro does not announce new elections soon.

Francisco Rodriguez is chief economist⁵ of New York-based Torino Capital. He said, “If Maduro stays in power, Venezuela could suffer a humanitarian⁹ catastrophe¹⁰.”

Rodriguez compared the situation in Venezuela to what happened to Libya in 2011. At that time, the U.S. government froze Libya’s assets in answer to Libya’s campaign against protesters during the Arab Spring uprising. The U.S. action led to a more than 70 percent drop in the North African country’s oil production.

Venezuela has one of the world’s largest oil reserves. But its current oil production is only one third of what it was when the late Hugo Chavez took power in 1999.

The country currently sells 500,000 oil barrels a day to processors in the U.S. Without the U.S. market, the Maduro government can sell them to friendly countries like Russia and China, or even India, Malaysia and Thailand.

Maduro is still supported by China and Russia. Both would likely veto any international restrictions¹¹ proposed by the U.N. Security Council. But processing international payments is difficult without American or European banks. And the cost of oil shipping¹² would be much higher to more distant markets.

Venezuela depends almost entirely¹³ on oil exports for money. This means there will be even less money for food. The country of 29 million people is already facing a severe economic crisis and food shortage.

Russ Dallen is with the investment bank Caracas Capital. He said a loss of fast money from Citgo and the U.S. market will crush already weakened oil production in Venezuela. The country’s economy would shrink and inflation will rise, he said, leading to “more starvation and more people fleeing the country.”

For Elizabeth Pineda, the workings of the economy make little sense. But to remove Maduro from leadership, she said, “We’re ready to eat bread and water if we have to.”

I’m Caty Weaver¹⁴.

Words in This Story

interim - adj. accepted for a limited time, not permanent

shamelessness - n. having or showing no shame

subsidiary - n. a company that is owned or controlled by another one

assets - n. something that is owned by a person, company, country... (usually plural)

reserve - n. a supply of something that is stored

1 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。

2 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

3 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

4 teller   

n.银行出纳员；(选举)计票员

参考例句：

• The bank started her as a teller.银行起用她当出纳员。
• The teller tried to remain aloof and calm.出纳员力图保持冷漠和镇静。

5 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

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 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

8 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

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 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

12 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

13 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

14 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。