美国国家公共电台 NPR--Colombia elects Gustavo Petro in historic presidential election

Colombia elects Gustavo Petro in historic presidential election

Transcript¹

Colombia has a new president, after an historic election, that has held more than a few surprises.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Colombia has elected a new president.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Gustavo Petro won last night. He is a former mayor of the gigantic city of Bogota. He has a colorful past. In his youth, he joined a guerrilla movement and was imprisoned² for a time. Now he's considered Colombia's first leftist to be elected president.

(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)

PRESIDENT-ELECT GUSTAVO PETRO: (Speaking Spanish).

INSKEEP: He declared a new history for Colombia last night.

FADEL: But is Petro up to the challenge? Reporter Manuel Rueda joins us now from Bogota. Good morning.

MANUEL RUEDA: Good morning.

FADEL: So a narrow victory after a closely fought race. You were at Petro headquarters last night, right? What was it like?

RUEDA: Well, it was a pretty electric atmosphere. You know, you had the sense that it was something quite historic.

FADEL: Yeah.

RUEDA: It was a basketball arena³ that's also used for concerts. And there were, like, 8,000 people there making a lot of noise.

FADEL: And what can we expect from a Petro presidency⁴? There are enormous expectations for this new leader of a country that's facing a lot of challenges, right?

RUEDA: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Petro's campaign was focused on mentioning the social and economic inequalities and talking about how he wants to decrease those. And basically, the heart of his campaign is to get the government, the state, more involved in issues like solving unemployment, education, health problems. He's kind of like a Roosevelt from the 1930s, where it's like a New Deal for Colombia.

FADEL: Now, the night also brought another moment of history. Colombia has its first Black vice⁵ president, Francia Marquez. Tell us more about who she is.

RUEDA: Well, she's a very interesting character because what she says is that she joined politics to save her life, to save her community. And she comes from a very small place in the western mountains of Colombia and basically started out as an activist⁶ against the gold mining, against illegal gold mining. So she represents not just Afro Colombian population but the social community leaders in rural areas of Colombia who work in very dangerous conditions and often face death threats.

FADEL: Now, this election is another blow to establishment politics, not just in Colombia but in the region, right?

RUEDA: Yeah, absolutely. What you're seeing, you know, since the pandemic began across different countries of Latin America is that the opposition⁷ candidates are winning. The outsiders are winning. In some cases, it's leftist parties, like what happened in Peru and Chile last year. But for example, in Ecuador, it was a conservative politician who was from the opposition who won the election. So it's very hard in the current circumstances for incumbents⁸ to stay in power.

FADEL: And how is the victory being seen in the region?

RUEDA: Well, for some countries, it means something - for example, Colombia will probably reestablish relations with Venezuela. For the United States, it's going to be a challenge because Petro, as a senator, has been very critical of U.S. drug policy in the so-called war on drugs. So that relation is going to have more friction⁹ now, especially when it comes to anti-narcotics policies.

FADEL: Thank you very much. That's reporter Manuel Rueda in Bogota.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 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。

3 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

7 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。

8 incumbents   

教区牧师( incumbent的名词复数 )； 教会中的任职者

参考例句：

• In general, incumbents have a 94 percent chance of being reelected. 通常现任官员有94%的几率会再次当选。
• This arangement yields a wonderful gain to incumbents. 这种安排为在职人员提供了意外的得益。

9 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。