纽约时报 美政府曾和委内瑞拉叛变分子密谋推翻马杜罗(1)（在线收听）

US met Rebles from Venezuelan about Coup Plot

美方就政变问题会见委内瑞拉叛乱分子

By ERNESTO LONDONO and NICHOLAS CASEY

文/欧内斯托·隆多尼奥，尼古拉斯· 凯西

The Trump administration held secret meetings with rebellious military officers from Venezuela over the last year

据参加会谈的美国官员和前委内瑞拉军事指挥官透露，

to discuss their plans to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro,

去年，特朗普政府与委内瑞拉反叛军军官举行了秘密会谈，

according to American officials and a former Venezuelan military commander who participated in the talks.

讨论推翻尼古拉斯·马杜罗总统的计划。

Establishing a clandestine channel with coup plotters in Venezuela was a big gamble for Washington, given its long history of covert intervention across Latin America.

鉴于华盛顿在拉丁美洲有着长久的秘密干政历史，对华盛顿而言，设立与委内瑞拉政变策划者秘密沟通的渠道是一场非常重要的赌博。

Many in the region still deeply resent the United States for backing previous rebellions, coups and plots in countries like Cuba, Nicaragua, Brazil and Chile, and for turning a blind eye to the abuses military regimes committed during the Cold War.

对美国曾经支持古巴、尼加拉瓜、巴西，智利等国的叛乱、政变和阴谋，以及对冷战期间军事政权的诸多暴行视而不见的行为，当地很多人至今仍深恶痛绝。

The White House, which declined to answer detailed questions about the talks, said in a statement

白宫拒绝回答有关会谈的详细问题，还在一份声明中表示，

that it was important to engage in “dialogue with all Venezuelans who demonstrate a desire for democracy” in order to “bring positive change to a country that has suffered so much under Maduro.”

要“给深受马杜罗连累的国家带来积极的变化”，与所有表现出民主愿望的委内瑞拉人展开“对话”非常重要。

But one of the Venezuelan military commanders involved in the secret talks was hardly an ideal figure to help restore democracy:

然而，参与秘密会谈的某委内瑞拉军事指挥官很难称得上是能够帮助恢复民主的理想人选：

He is on the American government’s own sanctions list of corrupt officials in Venezuela.

因为美国政府自己拟定的委内瑞拉腐败官员制裁名单上就有他。

He and other members of the Venezuelan security apparatus have been accused by Washington of a wide range of serious crimes,

包括他在内的委内瑞拉安全机构官员被华盛顿指控犯有多种严重罪行，

including torturing critics, jailing hundreds of political prisoners, wounding thousands of civilians, trafficking drugs

包括折磨批判人士，监禁数百名政治犯，伤害数千名平民，贩运毒品

and collaborating with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

以及与被美国视为恐怖组织，简称“FARC”的哥伦比亚革命武装力量合作。

American officials eventually decided not to help the plotters, and the coup plans stalled.

美国官员最终决定不对委内瑞拉政变策划者施以援手，政变计划陷入僵局。

But the Trump administration’s willingness to meet several times with mutinous officers intent on toppling a president in the hemisphere could backfire politically.

然而，特朗普政府与决意推翻其总统的叛乱分子多次会面的政治意愿可能会产生适得其反的政治效果。

Most Latin American leaders agree that Venezuela’s president, Mr. Maduro, is an increasingly authoritarian ruler

大多数拉美领导人都一致认为，委内瑞拉总统马杜罗先生是一位日益专横的统治者，

who has effectively ruined his country’s economy, leading to extreme shortages of food and medicine.

他给国家的经济造成了严重的破坏，致使食品和药品极为短缺。

The collapse has set off an exodus of desperate Venezuelans who are spilling over borders, overwhelming their neighbors.

国家经济崩溃，绝望的委内瑞拉人大量外流，而他们正越过边界，涌向邻国。

Even so, Mr. Maduro has long justified his grip on Venezuela by claiming that Washington imperialists are actively trying to depose him, and the secret talks could provide him with ammunition to chip away at the region’s nearly united stance against him.

即便如此，马杜罗先生还是以美帝国主义者正积极谋划废除他，而秘密会谈能够帮他弄到弹药，挫一挫周围齐声反对他的人的锐气为由，长期把持着委内瑞拉的总统席位。

“This is going to land like a bomb” in the region, said Mari Carmen Aponte, who served as the top diplomat overseeing Latin American affairs in the final months of the Obama administration.

曾在奥巴马执政最后几个月担任监督拉丁美洲事务最高外交官的马里·卡门·阿庞特说：“对该地区而言这无异于一枚炸弹。”

Beyond the coup plot, Mr. Maduro’s government has already fended off several small-scale attacks, including salvos from a helicopter last year and exploding drones as he gave a speech in August.

除了政变阴谋，马杜罗先生的政府还避开了几次小规模袭击，包括去年八月他发表演讲时直升飞机以及无人机爆炸发动的袭击。

The attacks have added to the sense that the president is vulnerable.

这些袭击更加强了总统软弱可欺的感觉。

Venezuelan military officials sought direct access to the American government during Barack Obama’s presidency, only to be rebuffed, officials said.

官员表示，奥巴马总统任期内委内瑞拉军方官员就曾寻求过与美国政府正面沟通的途径，但遭到了拒绝。