2006年VOA标准英语-Mexico's Winning Presidential Candidate Favors

By Greg Flakus
Houston, TX
20 July 2006
 
watch Mexico Election report

 
Felipe Calderon waves to supporters 
  
Mexicans are still not completely sure who won their presidential election, more than two weeks after the voting.  Official results showed ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon winning by less than six-tenths of a percentage point over leftist rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has challenged the results.

If the legal challenges fail and Calderon is officially declared the winner, as is expected, he would keep Mexico on the same free-market and free trade track it has been on under President Vicente Fox.  VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Houston that would bode¹ well for relations with the United States.

---------

President Bush and other U.S. officials have consistently said the United States will work with whichever candidate is declared the winner in Mexico. But the apparent victory by Felipe Calderon certainly presents Washington with fewer problems.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador    
  
Lopez Obrador is viewed by many business leaders in Mexico and the United States as a more volatile² and problematic figure who would seek changes in the North American Free Trade Agreement.  NAFTA binds³ Mexico commercially with the United States and Canada.

Felipe Calderon, on the other hand, is a Harvard graduate who wants to expand Mexico's trade relations.

Business leaders at the Houston World Affairs Council were given a glimpse at what a Calderon government might do, just prior to the election. 

Arturo Sarukhan  
  
Arturo Sarukhan, Mr. Calderon's international affairs coordinator⁴, says trade relations are a priority. "There is no relationship more important for the future well-being⁵ of Mexico than the relationship with the United States."

Sarukhan says Mr. Calderon sees benefits from NAFTA and other trade agreements that go well beyond imports and exports. "We have become a much more accountable nation. We have become much more open to the world, much more anchored in the world, as a result of NAFTA. In many ways, we believe that foreign policy today in Mexico should help to anchor democratic change in Mexico."

Sarukhan said in an interview with VOA that the major irritant of illegal Mexican immigration to the United States can be overcome through a bilateral⁶ effort.

"Mexico, certainly, has to do its part of the work in generating the growth and the opportunities that its society needs and demands, but we also have to understand that there is a very important pull factor on this side of the border."

Sarukhan says Mr. Calderon also would favor opening the state-owned oil company, Pemex, to limited foreign investment. "We think that, if we can do this, we can make Pemex much more accountable, much more transparent⁷, much more cost efficient and provide the types of resources that we need to tap into, to provide the type of investment to boost Mexico and make it competitive with the likes of India and China today in the world."

But such an opening, however small, would require a change in the Mexican constitution. That would not be easy, given the divisions in Congress and the society at large. Many Mexicans remain leery of the United States. But members of a rising middle class are more open to change.

Sarukhan says President Vicente Fox's policies have contributed to the growth of the middle class. He believes that growth would continue if Mr. Calderon becomes president. "This is probably the first time since the 1970's where you are starting to see the resurgence⁸ of a urban, lower-middle class that is, for the first time, able to access credit to buy a house, to buy a car, to send the kids to a summer holiday, and I think there is a feeling today that people are better off than their parents were a generation ago."

But about half of Mexico's population still lives in poverty. Many of the poor see little benefit from economic liberalization.

They back the challenges from the left and could make it even more difficult for Calderon to govern effectively if he does eventually assume office.

1 bode   

v.预示

参考例句：

• These figures do not bode well for the company's future.这些数字显示出公司的前景不妙。
• His careful habits bode well for his future.他那认真的习惯预示著他会有好的前途。

2 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

3 binds   

v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕

参考例句：

• Frost binds the soil. 霜使土壤凝结。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Stones and cement binds strongly. 石头和水泥凝固得很牢。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

5 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

6 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

7 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

8 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。