VOA慢速英语2019 北三角移民施压美国与墨西哥

Migration¹ from Northern Triangle Countries Presses Mexico, US

Reverend Fernando Cuevas has watched migrants leave for Mexico from the steps of his church in a town on Guatemala’s border. He has seen large and small groups gather in the town to get on small boats waiting to carry them to Mexico.

牧师费尔南多·奎瓦斯（Fernando Cuevas）目睹了移民走下危地马拉边境小镇的教堂台阶，前往墨西哥。他看到大大小小的人群在小镇聚集，竞相搭乘将他们送往墨西哥的小型船只。

Cuevas says there is little effort by the Guatemalan government to stop migrants from crossing into Mexico illegally on rafts.

奎瓦斯表示，危地马拉政府在阻止移民非法偷渡进入墨西哥方面几乎没有采取任何措施。

“Having no immigration policy is also a policy,” Cuevas said. “There are too many conflicts of interest to stop migration.”

“没有任何移民政策也是一种政策”奎瓦斯指出。“有太多的利益冲突，无法阻止移民。”

The governments of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have said nothing as U.S. President Donald Trump² threatened Mexico with tariffs³. The tariffs were meant to punish Mexico for permitting thousands of migrants to flow to the U.S. southern border.

当美国总统特朗普威胁墨西哥征收关税时，危地马拉、洪都拉斯和萨尔瓦多三国政府均为作出任何表态。关税旨在惩罚墨西哥允许成千上万的移民涌入美国南部边境。

The Associated Press reports that the migrants are mainly from the so-called Northern Triangle countries -- not Mexico.

美联社报告道，这些移民主要来自“北三角”国家，而非墨西哥。

A major reason for their silence? The countries of the Northern Triangle depend heavily on the money their citizens send home from other countries.

他们默不作声的主要原因？北三角国家很大程度上依赖其公民从其他国家寄回家的钱。

In Honduras, remittances⁵ totaled more than $4.8 billion last year. The central bank says that is more than 20 percent of the country’s economy. In Guatemala, remittances are more than $9 billion. And in El Salvador they are about $5.5 billion.Efforts to improve conditions in the Northern Triangle

在洪都拉斯，去年的汇款总额超过48亿美元。该国中央银行称，其所占份额超过国家经济的20%。在危地马拉，汇款金额超过了90亿美元。而在萨尔瓦多，汇款金额约为55亿美元。

Mexico has deployed⁶ thousands of National Guard troops across its territory to help control migration.

墨西哥在领地部署了数千支国防部队，帮助控制移民。

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador supports a United Nations-backed development plan for the Northern Triangle area and southern Mexico. He says the U.S. government also has promised to guarantee investments.

墨西哥总统安德烈斯·曼努埃尔·洛佩斯·奥布拉多支持一项联合国支持的北三角地区和墨西哥南部发展计划。他说，美国政府也承诺会担保投资。

Last month, López Obrador offered El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, a $30-million donation for a reforestation and jobs program. López Obrador is expanding his own version of that program. He hopes it will stop Mexicans in rural areas from migrating to the U.S.

上个月，洛佩斯·奥布拉多向萨尔瓦多总统纳伊布·布克勒捐赠了3000万美元，用于植树造林和就业项目。洛佩斯·奥布拉多也正在本国推广类似项目。他希望该项目可以阻止墨西哥农村地区的人移民至美国。

The Northern Triangle governments face problems of poverty, crime and violence. Such conditions are driving emigration.

北三角国家的政府面临着贫穷、犯罪和暴力等问题。这样的环境正推动着移民。

Last month, Mexican Interior Secretary Olga Sánchez Cordero said Mexico was not to blame. “The Americans really believe that we’re not doing our job,” she said. “We are doing it…The issue is the humanitarian⁷ crisis in Honduras” and the rest of Central America.

上个月，墨西哥内政部长奥尔加·桑契斯·科德罗称，墨西哥不是罪魁祸首。“美国人真的认为我们并没有尽到职责”她说。“我们正在努力……而问题是洪都拉斯和中美洲其他地区的人道主义危机。”

Sanchez Cordero said Honduran officials told Mexico that about 500,000 of their citizens had left the country since last fall.

桑切斯·科尔德称，洪都拉斯的官员告诉墨西哥，去年秋季以来，约50万洪都拉斯公民离开了该国。

Guatemalan officials say they have been fighting the problem.

危地马拉的官员表示，他们一直在努力解决移民问题。

In May, Guatemala announced it had broken up a human smuggling⁸ ring that made $10 million by taking people to the United States. The announcement came while acting⁹ U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan was visiting the area. The U.S. is also sending immigration agents to work as advisers¹⁰ to their Guatemalan counterparts.

5月份，危地马拉宣布破获了一个人口走私集团。该集团通过走私人口到美国获利1000万美元。该消息是在美国国土安全部代理部长凯文·麦亚历南访问这个地区时公布的。美国也在派遣移民代理到危地马拉同行业担任顾问。

Fernando Neira Orjuela is with the Research Center for Latin America and the Caribbean at the National Autonomous¹¹ University of Mexico.

费尔南多·尼拉·奥朱埃拉在墨西哥国立自治大学的拉丁美洲和加勒比研究中心工作。

He said, “That the migrants leave, for some of these governments, is like shedding problems — fewer jobs to worry about, fewer social issues to attend to.”

他说，“对于这些国家的一些政府来说，移民离开就像是在摆脱问题，例如，需要担心的就业问题更少了，需要处理社会问题也更少了。”

Neira added that the Central American countries consider remittances an important economic gain.

尼拉补充说，中美洲国家认为，汇款是一项重要的经济收益。

When asked about the tension between Mexico and the United States over immigration, Honduran Deputy Foreign Affairs Secretary Nelly Jerez said, “Those are bilateral¹² situations between the United States and Mexico.”

当被问及墨西哥与美国在移民问题方面的紧张局势时，洪都拉斯的外交部副部长耐莉·赫雷斯表示，“这是美国和墨西哥的双边问题。”

But this week, El Salvador’s president said he took responsibility for the loss of life of his country’s citizens at the U.S. border.

但是本周，萨尔瓦多总统表示，他对其公民在美国边境死亡一事负有责任。

Bukele spoke¹³ about the tragic¹⁴ death of a Salvadoran father and his 2-year-old daughter. They drowned last month while trying to cross the Rio Grande River into Texas. “They fled El Salvador. They fled our country. It is our fault,” Bukele said.

布克勒提到了萨尔瓦多男子及其2岁女儿死亡的悲剧。上个月，这对父女在竭力跨过格兰德河进入德克萨斯州时溺亡。“他们逃离了萨尔瓦多。他们逃离了我们国家。这是我们的过错，”布克勒说道。

Words in This Story

migrant –n. a person who travels from one area to another in search of work

raft –n. a flat, very simple boat

remittance⁴ –n. an amount of money sent often across borders

emigration –n. to leave a country or area to live somewhere else

smuggle¹⁵ –v. to move something or people from one country or another secretly or illegally

shed –v. to lose

bilateral –adj. involving two groups or countries

restore –v. to give back, to provide again what was taken away

1 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

2 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。

3 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

4 remittance   

n.汇款，寄款，汇兑

参考例句：

• Your last month's salary will be paid by remittance.最后一个月的薪水将通过汇寄的方式付给你。
• A prompt remittance would be appreciated.速寄汇款不胜感激。

5 remittances   

n.汇寄( remittance的名词复数 )；汇款，汇款额

参考例句：

• He sends regular remittances to his parents. 他定期汇款给他父母。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Remittances sometimes account for as much as 20% of GDP. 在这些国家中，此类汇款有时会占到GDP的20%之多。 来自互联网

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

7 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

8 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

10 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

11 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

12 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

13 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。

14 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

15 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。