VOA常速英语2008年-Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe - a Profile

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
04 April 2008

Zimbabwe is anxiously waiting for official confirmation¹ of reports by pro-democracy groups that President Robert Mugabe has come in second to opposition² leader Morgan Tsvangirai in Saturday's presidential election and could face a run-off election. VOA's Scott Bobb in Johannesburg has this profile of Mr. Mugabe, the veteran hero of Zimbabwe's independence struggle, who is now regarded by many as an authoritarian³ leader whose policies have led to the country's economic collapse⁴.

After decades of struggle for independence and 28 years as the undisputed ruler of Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe seemed intent on governing forever.

During the presidential campaign he dismissed his opponents as traitors⁵ and foreign puppets and said they would never win the vote.

"It will never happen. Never, never happen," he said.

But when results showed that Mr. Mugabe's ZANU PF party had been defeated for the first time in parliamentary elections and that he could face a similar fate in the presidential vote, the embattled former guerrilla leader responded with the same obstinacy⁶ that has characterized his leadership.

Following the Lancaster House agreements that gave independence to Zimbabwe in 1980, Mr. Mugabe was elected prime minister and then president. He initially⁷ formed a coalition⁸ government with fellow-liberation leader Joshua Nkomo but this soon collapsed⁹ and led to a crackdown in which an estimated 20,000 mostly Nkomo supporters were killed.

Mr. Mugabe and the ZANU-PF ruled virtually without opposition until the creation of the Movement for Democratic Change party of Morgan Tsvangirai in 1999. Tsvangirai and the MDC lost the subsequent elections (2000, 2002 and 2005) which were marred¹⁰ by violence and irregularities.

Tsvangirai and several dozen party leaders were hospitalized last March after being beaten and detained while trying to hold a protest march that the government had banned.

When opposition leaders threatened to demonstrate again Mr. Mugabe responded in characteristic manner.

"They will get arrested (again) and get bashed by the police," he said.

Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born in 1924 in Zvimba district, 65 kilometers west of Harare in what was then Southern Rhodesia. The son of a carpenter he attended Catholic mission schools and at the age of 17 years became a teacher. He won a scholarship to South Africa's Fort Hare University and in 1951 received the first of his six university degrees.

Returning home in 1960 he joined the Zimbabwe African People's Union, ZAPU, but left three years later to form the Zimbabwe African National Union, ZANU.

He was imprisoned¹¹ without trial for 10ok years under the white-led regime of Ian Smith. After his release in 1974 he fled to neighboring Mozambique from where he led ZANU's guerrilla war for independence.

Mr. Mugabe's socialistic beliefs led to nationalist policies which improved social services and literacy rates but which are also blamed in part for the 30 percent decline of the Zimbabwean economy in the past eight years.

A major factor was the redistribution of four thousand white-owned commercial farms to party faithful and liberation war veterans which led to a decline in agricultural production. At the same time, a decline in foreign investment and heavy deficit¹² spending by the government caused hyper-inflation and shortages of food, fuel and other basic commodities.

Mr. Mugabe blames Zimbabwe's economic problems on western sanctions although western governments say the sanctions only target senior officials and their immediate¹³ families.

Although he is respected across the continent for his role in the creation of Zimbabwe, experts say the country will take a long time to recover from the effects of his policies in the latter years of his regime.

1 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 traitors   

卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人

参考例句：

• Traitors are held in infamy. 叛徒为人所不齿。
• Traitors have always been treated with contempt. 叛徒永被人们唾弃。

6 obstinacy   

n.顽固；（病痛等）难治

参考例句：

• It is a very accountable obstinacy.这是一种完全可以理解的固执态度。
• Cindy's anger usually made him stand firm to the point of obstinacy.辛迪一发怒，常常使他坚持自见，并达到执拗的地步。

7 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

11 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

12 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

13 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。