VOA常速英语2018--美呼吁古巴政府倾听民众诉求

In his address to the United Nations General Assembly in September, President Donald Trump¹ said that the Cuban government is delivering only anguish² and failure to its people.

9月，在向联合国大会发表讲话时，特朗普总统表示，现在古巴政府给其子民带来的只有痛苦和挫败。

The State Department's recently published 2017 report on human rights conditions in Cuba describes the Cuban regime's lack of respect for the rights of the Cuban people.

最近国务院发布了古巴2017年的人权状况报告，其中描述了古巴政府不尊重古巴人权的情况。

The report notes that the Communist party remained the only legal party in the country. Elections were neither free nor fair. Candidates were prescreened by the Communist party and the government blocked candidates not approved by the party.

该报告指出，古巴共产党依然是古巴唯一的合法政党。古巴选举既不自由，也不公正。总统候选人要先经过古巴共产党的预选，而凡是不为古巴共产生认可的候选人都无法参选。

The most significant human rights issues, the State Department said, included torture of perceived political opponents; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; politically motivated, sometimes violent, detentions³ and arrests; a complete absence of judicial⁴ independence; and trial processes that effectively put the burden on the defendant⁵ to prove innocence⁶.

国务院指出，古巴最严重的人权问题包括虐待其视为眼中钉的政敌；监狱环境恶劣，危及囚犯生命；出于政治意图监禁并逮捕公民，有时甚至采用暴力手段；完全没有司法独立；审判流程要求被告自证清白。

Freedom of expression was limited to expression that conforms to the goals of socialist⁷ society, with strict censorship, punishing even distribution of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

所谓的自由言论只限于说符合古巴社会主义社会目标的话，所有言论都要经过严格的审查，《世界人权宣言》也不得人手一份。

The Cuban government controlled all forms of media. The internet was restricted, as were academic freedom and the rights of assembly and association. Government-organized mobs were used to assault and disperse⁸ those who assembled peacefully.

古巴政府控制了各种形式的媒体传播。互联网受限，学术自由、集会结社的权利也受限。政府组织了乌合之众来袭击并驱散和平集会的民众。

Earlier this month, Raul Castro, who took over as Cuba's leader from his brother Fidel in 2006, stepped down from the presidency⁹, handing the presidential baton¹⁰ to his designated successor and longtime Communist party official Miguel Diaz-Canel. Could this transition possibly mean an end to the human rights abuses described by the State Department and endured for decades by the Cuban people?

本月初，2006年从自己哥哥手中接过总统职位的劳尔 卡斯特罗(Raul Castro)退位，将总统一职交给了钦定的接班人，此人就是古巴共产党长期的官员米格尔 迪亚斯 卡内尔(Miguel Diaz-Canel)。不知这次职位交接意味着践踏人权行径的结束，也就是如国务院所愿结束了古巴人民几十年来的水深火热。

At a press briefing, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert pointed¹¹ out that Cuban citizens had no real power to affect the outcome of this undemocratic transition process. The United States, she declared, is disappointed that the Cuban Government opted¹² to silence independent voices and maintain its repressive monopoly on power, rather than allow its people a meaningful choice through free, fair and competitive elections.

在一次新闻发布会上，国务院发言人希瑟 诺尔特(Heather Nauert)指出，古巴百姓没有实权，无法影响非民主交接进程的结果。她表示，美国很失望，因为古巴政府选择湮没独立的声音，选择保持对权力的压迫性垄断，而不是选择让子民通过自由、公正、有竞争性的选举来做出有意义的选择。

Cuba's new president should take concrete steps to improve the lives of the Cuban people, to respect human rights and to cease repression¹³ and allow greater political and economic freedoms, said Spokesperson Nauert, We urge the new president to listen and respond to Cuban citizens' demands for a more prosperous, free, and democratic Cuba.

古巴的新任总统应该采取切实措施，提升古巴民生，尊重人权，停止压迫，实现更广阔的政治自由和经济自由，发言人诺尔特表示：我们敦促新任古巴总统倾听并对古巴人民的要求作出回应。古巴民众要求的是一个更加繁荣、自由、民主的古巴。

1 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。

2 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

3 detentions   

拘留( detention的名词复数 )； 扣押； 监禁； 放学后留校

参考例句：

• Teachers may assign detention tasks as they wish and some detentions have been actually dangerous. 老师可能随心所欲指派关禁闭的形式，有些禁闭事实上很危险。
• Intimidation, beatings and administrative detentions are often enough to prevent them from trying again. 恐吓，拷打和行政拘留足以阻止请愿者二次进京的脚步。

4 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

5 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

6 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

7 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。

8 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

9 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。

10 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

13 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。