2007年VOA标准英语-US Acts to Counter Venezuela's Clout in Latin A

By Brian Wagner
Miami
07 March 2007

President Bush's latest aid package for Latin America is aimed at combating poverty and strengthening democracy across the region. But some regional experts say the plan, announced just days before Mr. Bush's trip to Latin America, is designed to blunt Venezuela's growing clout¹ on the continent.

 
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez before the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday Sept. 20, 2006
The announcement of the aid package showed a new side to the administration's relation with the region, which has typically focused on strengthening business ties and trade agreements. It also comes at a time when a key U.S. opponent, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, is seeking to increase his nation's outreach on the continent.

Since taking office in 1999, President Chavez has vowed² to improve social conditions for the poor majority in his country through a series of anti-poverty, health and education programs. Supporters say the programs have been a success in the oil-rich nation, partly thanks to a rise in oil prices around the globe.

Jorge Castaneda, former foreign affairs minister for Mexico, says the relative success of the Venezuelan programs is unique to Latin America.

"You have a situation now where they have a social policy which means taking basic social services to the urban poor in Latin America," he said.  "Health, education, water, controlled prices. It can't last forever, but it's a lot better than what many of these neighbors have elsewhere in Latin America."

Castaneda says some of these Venezuelan programs are modeled after similar ones in Cuba. The Communist government in Cuba has long prided itself on education, health and literacy programs for residents on the island, as well as initiatives to send teams of doctors to emergency zones around the world.

And just like Cuba, Castaneda says Venezuela is looking to export its social program to countries, such as Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua.  At the same time, Caracas has lent its financial backing to Argentina to issue a joint³ bond for $1.5 billion.

Venezuela's new efforts come at a time of major changes in the international aid and finance sectors⁴, says Albert Fishlow, director of the Institute for Latin American studies at Columbia University.  He says there are more possible sources of finance than ever before. The needs in Latin America, he says, have changed.

"You don't have much need, I would argue, for massive flows," he said. "And that is for the good, because every time the United States promises it's going to do something, it never does. And the most obvious and saddest case is the Millennium⁵ Project."

Fishlow and others have criticized the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation, saying it has been too slow to fulfill⁶ its promises.  The agency was created in 2004 to increase U.S. aid spending by $5 billion over the following year.

Officials at the Millennium Corporation say they have already signed deals worth more than $1 billion with 11 nations, including El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras. And days before launching a tour of Latin American nations, President Bush unveiled a new set of aid spending, especially targeted to Latin America.

 
President Bush
"In the coming years, these agreements will provide a total of $885 million a year in new aid, so long as these countries continue to meet the standards of the Millennium Challenge program."

Under the terms of a Millennium Challenge agreement, recipient⁷ nations must show a commitment to certain policies, such as political and economic freedom, anti-corruption measures and other reforms.

Similar conditions have been common with loans from the International Monetary⁸ Fund and other Western agencies. In contrast, Venezuela has not tied its foreign spending to political conditions or promised reforms, says Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

"So the Venezuelan government is providing an alternative source of financing, but it's not even trying to tell any of these countries what to do," he said.

Weisbrot says the absence of conditions makes Venezuela's spending attractive to other nations in the region. At the time, he said it represents a threat to U.S. leaders who fear losing influence to Venezuela's President Chavez and leftist leaders in the region.

"They do think these countries are pursuing reckless, populist policies, and they will eventually learn their lessons," he added.  "In the meantime, the loss of influence for the United States is a major concern to the leaders of the Bush administration, the Congress, and most of the think tanks here."

During his Latin America tour, President Bush is expected to seek support from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to help counter Venezuela's influence.  But experts say that Brazil views both the United States and Venezuela as important partners, and is unlikely to take sides against the other now.

1 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

2 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

6 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

7 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

8 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。