2006年VOA标准英语-Calderon Consolidates Position As Winner of Mex

By Greg Flakus
Houston
12 July 2006

In Mexico, leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador continues his efforts to challenge the narrow result from July 2 election that gave victory to ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon. Meanwhile, Calderon is acting¹ more and more like a president elect.

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Felipe Calderon 
  
Speaking to reporters in Mexico City Tuesday, Felipe Calderon called for calm ahead of protests and said he thought Lopez Obrador was making a mistake in promoting the turmoil².

He said by promoting demonstrations³, Lopez Obrador would lose much of the political capital he gained in the election, especially after having made pledges to honor the results even if he lost by a single vote.

Lopez Obrador, for his part, continues to claim the election was rigged.
 
 
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador 
  
He says some of his own representatives may have taken bribes⁴ to allow vote tampering⁵.

But while his followers⁶ express faith in these accusations⁷, there is evidence the public at large is growing tired of the complaints. On Monday, Lopez Obrador played a video for reporters that he said showed a ruling party representative stuffing ballots⁸ in a box. But the electoral institute later released a statement with documented evidence to demonstrate that what was shown on the video tape was nothing more than the transfer of misplaced presidential votes from a box marked for deputy votes.

Leaders of some other political parties, including the once powerful Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, have recognized Calderon as the winner. President Bush as well as a number of other leaders from the Americas and Europe have called Calderon to offer their congratulations.

A close observer of Mexican politics here in the United States, Professor George Grayson of the College of William and Mary, says Lopez Obrador is looking more and more like a sore loser. But Professor Grayson says the populist candidate of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, did make an important contribution to the electoral contest.

"Lopez Obrador, in getting about a third of the vote, really did put on the map the issue of the profound poverty in Mexico and also the stark⁹ inequality that finds ten percent of the elite¹⁰ owning 45 percent of the wealth,"said George Grayson.

Grayson says he believes Calderon will weather the storm of protests called for by Lopez Obrador. He also believes Calderon will build an effective government of unity¹¹ by appealing for support from state governors from the PRI and even the PRD.

"The governors actually handpicked many of the newly elected senators and deputies and so, I think, Calderon will focus on the governors, who, in turn, will encourage legislators from their state to back his initiatives in return for having their state's projects addressed," he said.

In this way, Grayson believes, Calderon will succeed where current president Vicente Fox failed in getting fiscal¹² reform, judicial¹³ reform and energy reform through a divided congress.

But Grayson disagrees with those who worry that the agenda of the poor championed by Lopez Obrador will suffer neglect under Calderon.

"Calderon is a modern person," noted¹⁴ George Grayson. "He knows that there have to be profound structural¹⁵ changes and he also has a social Christian¹⁶ outlook. So he is going to be supporting programs that uplift the poor and try to make a better life for those who have been excluded from the mainstream¹⁷ of Mexican society."

Of course, all of that is still a long way off. The Mexican electoral tribunal must first rule on the complaints of irregularities and declare the official winner of the election on September 6. But the new president will not take power until the first of December.

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

3 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

4 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

5 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句

6 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

7 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

8 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

10 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

11 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。

12 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

13 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

16 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

17 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。