US treads careful path on Honduras 美国在对待洪都拉斯问题上

US treads careful path on Honduras 美国在对待洪都拉斯问题上小心翼翼。

US President Barack Obama has called the removal of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya on Sunday a "coup¹".

The ousted² leader has been meeting US officials in Washington.

But the US State Department has not recalled its ambassador from Tegucigalpa and it is still reviewing whether to cut off aid to Honduras.

So while Washington's reaction has been strong and swift, when it comes to statements, its actions have so far been measured.

This is a signal that Washington is not keen to（热衷于） use its clout³ to help Mr Zelaya return to power, shying away from any action that could be seen as interventionism in a region where the US has a long, complex history.

The reaction is also in line with the promise President Obama made to Latin America at the Organization of American States summit in April, not to dictate⁴ US policy on the continent anymore but to be an equal partner.

Political shift

But the careful approach also underscores（划线于。。。下） how awkward it can be for a US president to follow through on his declared desire to "stand on the side of democracy, sovereignty (独立国，主权)and self-determination" when the overthrown⁵ leader is someone with whom Washington has recently had cool relations

"Whatever political disagreements you might have, there are democratic norms that have to and should be followed," White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said.

Honduras is a strong US ally and gets a considerable amount of development and military aid. The US is also Honduras's biggest trading partner.

But Mr Zelaya, who came to power in 2006 as a centre-right leader, turned into a supporter of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez halfway⁶ through his term.

He then joined the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, a leftist（左派的，激进派的） alliance led by Venezuela.

havez has long been Washington's bete noire（为人所讨厌的人或物）, even though relations have thawed（使溶解，缓和） somewhat since Mr Obama came to office.

Mr Zelaya's recent attempts to amend⁷ the constitution（修改宪法） are reminiscent of（使人想起） those Mr Chavez and other populist（平民主义者） presidents have taken to extend their time in office.

His call for a referendum（公民投票） to determine whether there was popular support to rewrite the constitution put him at odds⁸ with his country's Congress, military and Supreme⁹ Court.

It is probably not a path that Washington wanted to see Honduras take, but the military removal of Mr Zelaya was an even worse direction for the country in the eyes of the US administration.

"On the one instance, we're talking about conducting a survey, a non-binding survey; in the other instance, we're talking about the forcible（强制的，强迫的） removal of a president from a country," said a state department official on Sunday, speaking on conditions of anonymity¹⁰.

US involvement

Echoing the condemnation¹¹ by Latin American leaders, President Obama also said that "it would be a terrible precedent¹² if we start moving backwards¹³ into the era in which we are seeing military coups¹⁴ as a means of political transition rather than democratic elections".

"The region has made enormous progress over the last 20 years in establishing democratic traditions in Central America and Latin America. We don't want to go back to a dark past," he added.

And while Washington has - oddly - found itself on the same side as Mr Chavez in condemning¹⁵ the removal of Mr Zelaya and calling for his return to power, it has also had to reject allegations （断言，主张，辩解）by Mr Chavez that it had a hand in the coup.

General Romeo Vasquez, Honduras' top military chief, who led the coup, is one of the hundreds of Honduran officers who have received military training from the US.

He was sacked by Mr Zelaya for refusing to carry out the referendum.

On Tuesday White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said that the US had spoken out on the Honduran situation to put to rest "any rumours¹⁶ that we were in any way involved in this".

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated that Washington was perhaps hoping that the situation could still be resolved（下定决心的）, which explains why the US is still only reviewing its financial assistance to Honduras and has not cut off aid just yet.

She said the US was "withholding¹⁷ any formal legal determination" of the incident as a coup, which would trigger an end to US aid.

"Much of our assistance is conditioned on the integrity of the democratic system.

"But if we were able to get to a status quo（现状） that returned to the rule of law and constitutional order within a relatively¹⁸ short period of time, I think that would be a good outcome," she said on Monday.

It is still unclear whether that outcome will be possible.

Mr Zelaya has garnered¹⁹ impressive international support, including a unanimous condemnation of the coup at the UN, but Honduras's new leaders, while isolated²⁰, have vowed²¹ to arrest Mr Zelaya if he tries to return. (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 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。

2 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。

3 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

4 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

5 overthrown   

adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词

参考例句：

• The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
• He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。

6 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

7 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

8 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

9 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。

10 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

11 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

12 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

13 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

14 coups   

n.意外而成功的行动( coup的名词复数 )；政变；努力办到难办的事

参考例句：

• China has seen many political coups within the ruling class. 中国统治阶级内部发生过很多政变。 来自互联网
• Thailand has had eighteen coups or coup attendance since nineteen thirty-two. 泰国1932年以来有18次政变或参加政变。 来自互联网

15 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

16 rumours   

n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传

参考例句：

• The rumours were completely baseless. 那些谣传毫无根据。
• Rumours of job losses were later confirmed. 裁员的传言后来得到了证实。

17 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

18 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

19 garnered   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert. 史密斯先生逐渐赢得全国金融专家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals. 他的提议得到了广泛的支持。 来自辞典例句

20 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

21 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。