VOA标准英语2009年-Hondurans Deeply Divided Over Ouster of Pr

Thousands of supporters of ousted¹ Honduran President Manuel Zelaya marched through the streets of the nation's capital, Tegucigalpa, Sunday and jammed the roads around the international airport awaiting his return.
　
Supporters of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya demonstrate in Tegucigalpa, 5 July 2009

Authorities blocked the runway, however, preventing his plane from landing and clashes between demonstrators and soldiers guarding the airport left at least one Zelaya supporter dead. Such violence could deepen the already large rift² between those who support Mr. Zelaya and those who support the officials who threw him out of office.

The demonstrators who showed up at the airport Sunday had hoped to greet the man they continue to regard as the legitimate³ president of their country. This woman, who is associated with a pro-Zelaya labor⁴ union, says his return is essential if Honduras is to remain a democracy and a nation of laws.

She says the people elected Mr. Zelaya to a four-year term and that he must be allowed to come back and finish it. New elections are scheduled for November and a new president is to take office in January.
　
A supporter of Mr. Zelaya says he must be allowed to return to the country and finish his 4-year term, Tegucigalpa, 5 July 2009

Roberto Micheletti, the man who replaced Mr. Zelaya after he was seized by soldiers and sent out of the country a week ago, has suggested the elections could be moved up. In a news conference Sunday, he offered to participate in a dialogue to resolve the crisis. But his conciliatory talk was met with scorn by many Zelaya supporters, including this man.

He says the interim⁵ government led by Mr. Micheletti is now cornered and looking for a way out. He says there is nothing to negotiate, Mr. Zelaya was elected president and he must be allowed to finish his term.

While many Zelaya supporters back him fully⁶, some do admit that the man known to many by his nickname Mel made some grave errors. This man, speaking in English, defended the president's intent.
　
A supporter of ousted president Manuel Zelaya, Tegucigalpa, 5 July 2009

"All the mistakes that Mel did was just to help the poor people, just to look for a good life for the poor people," he said.

Nearly half of Hondurans live in extreme poverty and their country is listed as the third-poorest in the Western hemisphere. Mr. Zelaya pushed for more anti-poverty programs and also championed what he called "people power."

But this populist approach drove a wedge between Mr. Zelaya and the business community, the military and even some of the people in his own party who had been his supporters early on. Mr. Zelaya aligned⁷ himself with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and traveled frequently to meet with him.

Many Hondurans worried that Mr. Zelaya was trying to turn their country into a socialist⁸ state like Cuba. This man is among the thousands who have taken to the streets here this week to back the interim government.

He says the ouster of President Zelaya was not a coup⁹ d'etat, but a substitution of leaders brought on by his illegal actions. He says these were crimes against Honduras and the Honduran people.

The military ousted President Zelaya after he tried to implement¹⁰ a non-binding referendum that was supposed to lead to a change in the constitution to allow a president to serve more than one term in office. The current constitution describes any attempt to change the term limit as illegal. When the leader of the Honduran Armed Forces, General Romeo Vasquez refused to assist in setting up the referendum because the Supreme¹¹ Court had declared it illegal, Mr. Zelaya tried to fire him. But the Supreme Court backed the general and later ordered Mr. Zelaya's arrest for violating the constitution.

Supporters of the interim government argue that the removal of President Zelaya from power was legal and necessary, but their arguments have done little to sway the opinion of thousands of Zelaya supporters who continue to await his return, not only to this country, but to the presidential palace.

1 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

2 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

3 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

8 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

9 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。

10 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

11 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。