VOA常速英语2020--美国要求委内瑞拉释放Citgo高管

Six executives of the Houston-based CITGO Petroleum¹ Corporation have spent more than two years in detention² in Venezuela without any evidence of wrongdoing presented against them. Five of the men are U.S. citizens; the sixth is a U.S. legal permanent resident.

总部位于休斯敦的CITGO石油公司的六名高管在委内瑞拉被拘留了两年多，没有任何证据表明他们有不当行为。其中5人是美国公民；还有1人是美国合法永久居民。

All six men have been held without due process, in violation³ of Venezuela’s own laws. No less than eighteen hearings have been scheduled and then cancelled. It looks as if the illegitimate regime of Nicolas Maduro is trying to use these men as political pawns⁴, even though they are not political figures associated with the regime or the Interim⁵ government.

这6人都是在没有正当程序的情况下被拘留的，这违反了委内瑞拉自己的法律。尼古拉斯·马杜罗的非法政权似乎试图利用这些人作为政治筹码，尽管他们不是与该政权或临时政府有关的政治人物。

The United States is gravely concerned over the wrongful detention of the six CITGO employees – Tomeu Vadell, Gustavo Cardenas, Jorge Toledo, Alirio Jose Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, and Jose Angel Pereira. Originally detained in November 2017, they were put under house arrest last December.

美国严重关切六名CITGO雇员- - Tomeu Vadell、Gustavo Cardenas、Jorge Toledo、Alirio Jose Zambrano、Jose Luis Zambrano和Jose Angel Pereira - -被错误拘留。他们最初于2017年11月被拘留，去年12月被软禁。

However, in February 2020 the detained business leaders were taken from house arrest without explanation by the Maduro regime’s intelligence service, SEBIN, and sent to a SEBIN prison, where they remain. They have only been allowed to briefly⁶ speak to their families twice since returning to prison, where they spend their days in a cell without sunlight while struggling to prevent themselves from contracting COVID-19.

然而，在2020年2月，被拘留的商业领袖在没有任何解释的情况下被马杜罗政权的情报机构塞宾从软禁中带走，并被送往塞宾监狱，他们现在仍在那里。自从回到监狱后，他们只被允许与家人简短交谈两次。在监狱里，他们在没有阳光的牢房里度过一天，同时努力防止自己感染上covid19。

State Department Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams called for an end to “this cruel and indefensible imprisonment” and condemned⁷ their “unjust treatment.”

美国国务院委内瑞拉问题特别代表埃利奥特·艾布拉姆斯呼吁结束“这种残忍和站不住脚的监禁”，并谴责他们的“不公平待遇”。

“They should be permitted to leave Venezuela and return to their families,” declared Special Representative Abrams.

“他们应该被允许离开委内瑞拉，回到自己的国家”特别代表艾布拉姆斯宣布。

Special Presidential Envoy⁸ for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, appointed by President Trump⁹ to work to secure the release of Americans wrongfully detained or held hostage overseas, is working with Special Representative Abrams to bring the men home.

特朗普总统任命的负责人质事务的总统特使罗杰·卡斯滕斯正在与特别代表艾布拉姆斯合作，将这些人带回家。卡斯滕斯的任务是确保被非法扣押或扣押在海外的美国人获释。

“My heart goes out to the families of these American men,” Special Envoy Carstens said. “Now, with the spread of COVID-19, it’s even more imperative¹⁰ that the Maduro regime release them.”

“我的心与这些美国人的家人同在，”卡斯滕斯特使说。“现在，随着COVID-19的传播，马杜罗政权更有必要释放他们。”

As infections in Venezuela grow, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said he was “extremely concerned about the risk for the (six CITGO employees) who are currently languishing¹¹ in the notorious Helicoide prison in Caracas.”

随着委内瑞拉感染人数的增加，国务卿迈克尔·蓬佩奥表示，他“非常担心(6名CITGO员工)目前在加拉加斯臭名昭著的Helicoide监狱中受折磨的风险”。

In a written statement, Secretary Pompeo added that "(t)hese wrongfully detained men all … face a grave health risk if they become infected . . . . They have already spent more than two years in jail without an ounce of evidence being brought against them. It is time,” said Secretary Pompeo, “to release them on humanitarian¹² grounds.”

国务卿蓬佩奥在一份书面声明中补充说，“这些被错误拘留的人……如果他们被感染……将面临严重的健康风险。他们已经在监狱里呆了两年多，却没有任何不利于他们的证据。是时候了，” 国务卿蓬佩奥说，“以人道主义的理由释放他们。”

1 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

2 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

3 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

4 pawns   

n.（国际象棋中的）兵( pawn的名词复数 )；卒；被人利用的人；小卒v.典当，抵押( pawn的第三人称单数 )；以（某事物）担保

参考例句：

• The hostages are being used as political pawns. 人质正被用作政治卒子。
• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

7 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

8 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

11 languishing   

a. 衰弱下去的

参考例句：

• He is languishing for home. 他苦思家乡。
• How long will she go on languishing for her red-haired boy? 为想见到她的红头发的儿子，她还将为此烦恼多久呢？

12 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。