委内瑞拉反对派和政府军之间的冲突

Clashes in Venezuela Between Opposition¹, Government Troops

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on Tuesday called for the military to oust² President Nicolas Maduro. But Maduro said that military leaders had shown him “their total loyalty³.”

Guaido spoke⁴ at a gathering⁵ outside an air base in Caracas. Guaido supporters at the demonstration⁶ and soldiers began to fight. Other clashes took place at similar demonstrations⁷ across the country.

The early-morning rebellion, however, seems to have only limited military support.

Venezuela’s Defense⁸ Minister Vladimir Padrino López appeared on national television surrounded by the country’s generals. He condemned¹⁰ Guaido’s move to seize power as a “terrorist” act and said that it was bound to fail.

Early on Tuesday, Guaido posted a video on Twitter saying that he had begun the “final phase” of his campaign to oust Maduro. He called on Venezuelans and the armed forces to support him ahead of large street protests planned for Wednesday.

Standing¹¹ with Guaido was Leopoldo Lopez, Venezuela’s leading opposition activist¹². Lopez has been under house arrest by Maduro but said he was "freed" by soldiers supporting Guaido. Lopez declared, “I want to tell the Venezuelan people: This is the moment to take to the streets and accompany these patriotic¹³ soldiers.”

As the two were speaking, troops loyal to Maduro fired tear gas from inside the air base. Several thousand demonstrators fled for cover. A tank then drove into a crowd of demonstrators who were throwing rocks at soldiers.

Guaido had declared himself the country’s interim¹⁴ president in January. The leader of Venezuela's National Assembly said Maduro’s re-election should not be recognized because he had barred his opponents from running against him.

Guaido told German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle in an interview released Tuesday, “Whatever happens now, we won’t let ourselves be stopped. Our process is moving on step by step, in accordance with our constitution. We continue to stand for nonviolence.”

Guaido has said Wednesday’s protests will be “the largest march in Venezuela’s history.”

Venezuela is dealing¹⁵ with an economic crisis along with its political one. Food and medicine shortages are severe. Earlier this year, the United States banned the sale of Venezuela’s oil in U.S. markets, adding more financial pressure on the country.

U.S. backing Guaido

In Washington, D.C., White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said President Donald Trump¹⁶ “has been briefed and is monitoring the ongoing¹⁷ situation.” She would not say whether the administration knew of Guaido’s plan before Tuesday’s events took place.

Other American officials, including Vice¹⁸ President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security advisor¹⁹ John Bolton expressed their support for Guaido on Twitter. Pence wrote, “To @jguaido, the National Assembly and all the freedom-loving people of Venezuela who are taking to the streets today in #operacionlibertad—Estamos con⁹ ustedes! We are with you! America will stand with you until freedom & democracy are restored."

Russia’s foreign ministry²⁰ on Tuesday accused the Venezuelan opposition of an attempt to draw the country’s armed forces into clashes. In recent weeks, Russia also sent soldiers and officers to help in Venezuela defense operations.

I'm Caty Weaver²¹.

Words in This Story

accompany - v. to go together

accordance - n. in a way that agrees with or follows

monitor - v. to watch, observe

1 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。

2 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

3 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

6 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

7 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

10 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。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 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。

13 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

14 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。

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

16 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。

17 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

18 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。

19 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

20 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

21 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。