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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
By Kari Barber
Dakar
06 February 2007
Guinea's President Lansana Conte has been getting help and advice from the government of neighboring Guinea Bissau to put an end to union-led protests. Union leaders in Guinea are threatening to resume a nationwide strike if a new prime minister is not named this week. Kari Barber reports from the VOA regional bureau in Dakar.
Guinea President Lansana Conte (file photo)
Mr. Conte, who has often rejected outside involvement in Guinea, has refused ECOWAS offers to allow regional mediators to help resolve the country's conflict. But he held recent meetings with Guinea Bissau's President Joao Bernardo Vieira in Conakry.
London-based analyst1 Richard Reeve with the Royal Institute of International Affairs says rejecting outside involvement, even the help of neighboring countries, is typical of Mr. Conte's government, which has few allies. Reeve says Mr. Vieira is an exception.
The two men have had a long relationship going back to when Mr. Conte supported Mr. Vieira in his bid to gain independence from Portugal.
"Vieira is Conte's closest regional ally, and even more so, Conte is Vieira's closest regional ally," he noted2. "Neither man is exactly isolated3 in the region, but they do have a history going back to the mid4 '60s working together on liberation struggles and did rely on each other to a degree on security cooperation."
Mamadou Cellou Bah, 25, a demonstrator who was shot in the arm recovers from his wound in a Hospital in Conakry, Guinea
During the strikes in Guinea, which left scores of protesters dead, many reported seeing Portuguese-speaking troops from Guinea Bissau operating in Guinea. Guinea Bissau has denied these reports.
Reeve says Guinea Bissau, one of the poorest nations in the world, has little to offer Guinea so sending troops would be a symbolic5 gesture.
"Even if people were sent it would be simply a sign of cooperation on the part of the two regimes, rather than some kind of crucial prop6 to Conte," he added.
Advisors7 to the two men say Mr. Conte called Mr. Vieira at the height of protests, and that he suggested accepting the nomination8 of a new prime minister. This was promised in an agreement to suspend the strike last month, but not yet implemented9.
Union leaders are now threatening to resume protests if Mr. Conte does not name a prime minister this week. They are also angry that he has been making key nominations10 to state entities11 and embassies in recent days, without waiting for a new national unity12 government to do this.
Reeve says the decision to name a new prime minister will be difficult, and Mr. Conte is likely to delay his announcement as long as possible.
"Conte is not very good at modifying his behavior to suit the situation," he explained. "Whether he understands the urgency in the situation, I do not know."
Reeve says in the past Mr. Conte has taken months to make decisions on crucial matters such as this.
Reeve says other agreements to end the strike included that Guinea stop exporting food, but he says that is not likely to be enacted13. He says most exports are cash crops and not foods people in the country, suffering from inflated14 rice prices, would be able to eat.
The strike in Guinea began in early January amid unrest over soaring rice and gasoline prices and deteriorating15 government services.
1 analyst | |
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家 | |
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2 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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3 isolated | |
adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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4 mid | |
adj.中央的,中间的 | |
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5 symbolic | |
adj.象征性的,符号的,象征主义的 | |
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6 prop | |
vt.支撑;n.支柱,支撑物;支持者,靠山 | |
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7 advisors | |
n.顾问,劝告者( advisor的名词复数 );(指导大学新生学科问题等的)指导教授 | |
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8 nomination | |
n.提名,任命,提名权 | |
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9 implemented | |
v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 );执行;贯彻;使生效 | |
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10 nominations | |
n.提名,任命( nomination的名词复数 ) | |
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11 entities | |
实体对像; 实体,独立存在体,实际存在物( entity的名词复数 ) | |
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12 unity | |
n.团结,联合,统一;和睦,协调 | |
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13 enacted | |
制定(法律),通过(法案)( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14 inflated | |
adj.(价格)飞涨的;(通货)膨胀的;言过其实的;充了气的v.使充气(于轮胎、气球等)( inflate的过去式和过去分词 );(使)膨胀;(使)通货膨胀;物价上涨 | |
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15 deteriorating | |
恶化,变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 ) | |
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