VOA常速英语2008年-Colombia, Ecuador, Veneuzuela Agree to End Bord

By Brian Wagner
Miami
07 March 2008

The presidents of Colombia and Ecuador say they have resolved a dispute sparked by a Colombian attack on a rebel base inside Ecuador last week. In Miami, VOA's Brian Wagner reports the agreement came after the two exchanged harsh words during a regional summit.

The dispute between the two South American nations dominated talks between heads of state of the Rio Group in the Dominican Republic on Friday.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe again apologized Ecuador for Saturday's cross-border attack that killed more than 20 militants¹ of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC.

But he criticized the reaction of Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, adding his government has failed to cooperate in efforts to rein² in the rebels.

Mr. Uribe said Mr. Correa's claims that the attack was a massacre³ ignore the reality of the terrorist threat posed by the FARC.

Later, Mr. Uribe and Mr. Correa worked with other heads of state at the summit to draft a statement resolving the dispute. The draft said Colombia apologized for the incident and vowed⁴ never again to violate another nation's sovereignty. It also called on nations to fight armed groups that use violence or threaten regional stability.

President Correa said he was pleased with the resolution and accepted Colombia's apology.

Mr. Correa said with the agreement, the two sides can leave behind the grave incident that had caused his country great harm.

The two men shook hands at the close of the meeting, as regional leaders applauded the agreement.

Earlier this week, Ecuador, Venezuela and Nicaragua said they had cut relations with Colombia because of the dispute. After the agreement was reached, the Venezuelan and Nicaraguan presidents said they hopes to restore ties with Bogota.

1 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

2 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

3 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

4 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。