2007年VOA标准英语-Venezuelans Mull Chavez' Travels

By Michael Bowman
Caracas
28 June 2007

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez continues to accuse the United States of plotting to invade his country, as he engages in a whirlwind trip to Russia, Belarus and Iran. VOA's Michael Bowman reports from Caracas that many Venezuelans view the trip as an opportunity for Mr. Chavez to buy more foreign armaments, but not all are convinced the military buildup is money well spent.

Hugo Chavez (l) and Vladimir Putin in Moscow, 28 Jun 2007

Speaking in Moscow Thursday, President Chavez denied that the purpose of his trip is to purchase Russian weaponry, but he said his country must defend itself nonetheless.

He said, "We don't want war, but we also think the American empire will want to attack Venezuela, besides its everyday aggression¹. If there is an attack, like the ones over the past 100 years throughout the whole world, in Cuba, in Latin America in the Caribbean, in South America - we are ready to die in order to defend [the] sacred sovereignty of Venezuela."

The Bush administration dismisses Mr. Chavez' claims, saying it has no plans to invade Venezuela.

Venezuela has already purchased billions of dollars worth of Russian rifles, helicopters and military planes. Reports from Moscow quote Kremlin officials as saying Venezuela has also shown interest in Russian submarines and air defense² systems.

Before becoming president, Mr. Chavez was a paratrooper who led an unsuccessful coup³ attempt in 1992. In analyzing⁴ his actions as president, one must not lose sight of his military background, says Venezuelan professor and foreign affairs specialist, Ana Julia Jatar.

"President Chavez is a military man," said Ana Julia Jatar. "He views politics as a war. With this trip, he is sending a message of war, saying, 'I am making preparations in case the United States wants to invade my country.'"

In Iran, Mr. Chavez will meet with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has referred to the Venezuelan leader as his "brother." Mr. Ahmadinejad is also a fierce critic of the United States. Jatar says the visit to Tehran - Mr. Chavez's second - is unprecedented⁵ for a Latin American leader.

"It [the trip] has no economic or social benefit for Venezuela," she said. "It has but one benefit, which is to further President Chavez's vision of a multi-polar world in which he is the head of one of the poles."

On the streets of Caracas, some say it is only logical that Mr. Chavez keep the military strong. Andy Bermudez once served in Venezuela's navy.

"The armed forces must be complete with the arms it needs," he said. "Every country must maintain its armed forces in case of any eventuality, for any conflict that may come."

Luisa Rodriguez has a different point of view.

"I think, instead of buying arms, we should be doing more to help our own people," said Luisa Rodriguez. "There is terrible poverty in Venezuela. Some people have no clean drinking water, no electricity, and we should focus our efforts on those problems."

Massive oil revenues have given Venezuela's economy a boost by in recent years, but even President Chavez says more must be done to combat poverty.

1 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

4 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

5 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。