VOA常速英语2008年-Guinea-Bissau Government Attempts to Curb a Pow

By Phuong Tran
Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
01 April 2008

Guinea-Bissau's military has long dominated the course of the country's history. Soldiers control many of the country's economic interests. Elections in 2005 brought back to power a previous president, former independence guerrilla commander and army chief Joao Bernardo 'Nino' Vieira. But with pressure from donors¹, leaders of the cash-strapped government are trying to undertake military reform. Phuong Tran has more from the capital, Bissau.

Jorge Malu was president of the national assembly from 1999 until the 2003 military coup² that ousted³ President Kumba Yala of his Social Renewal⁴ Party. He says the military is feared in his country, and holds much of the power in Guinea-Bissau, even in times of civilian⁵ rule.

It has also been a constant source of instability. The last civil war, which began in 1998, was triggered when Joao Bernardo 'Nino' Vieira dismissed his then army chief of staff, accusing him of corruption⁶ and mismanagement. Mr. Vieira first came to power in his own coup in 1980.

In recent years, military unrest has led to various other coup plots and mutinies stemming from unpaid⁷ salaries, poor living conditions and ethnic⁸ tensions among soldiers.

To resolve this situation, the government has undertaken a multi-million dollar, donor-funded plan to restructure its military. The plan aims to reduce the current army to 3,000 men in the coming years, with only 1,000 full-time⁹ soldiers.

The government is waiting for results from a U.N.-funded army census¹⁰ to find out exactly how large of a cut this will be.

Current soldier estimates range from 5,000 to 15,000. According to the British-based Economist¹¹ Intelligence Unit, the government spends about 30 percent of its annual budget on the military.

Planned reforms include enforcing a constitutionally mandatory¹² draft, converting some military barracks into prisons, police stations and schools, buying new uniforms for the coast guard, and creating a small peacekeeping force.

Officials at the defense¹³ ministry¹⁴ have also said they plan to convert some soldiers into helping¹⁵ with new programs to develop ethanol fuel for the country.

But Malu, the former National Assembly president and current deputy, says it is important to carry out any changes with caution, and not provoke a backlash from within the military. He says it is important that soldiers accept the changes willingly, and make sure a violent reaction is avoided. He says he wants to see his country move forward and to develop in peace like other countries in the world.

The army's chief of staff Baptista Tagme Na Waie, who has a long history in the country's turbulent military affairs and spent several years detained on an isolated¹⁶ island, has pledged to be behind the plans to reform the military.

He has also said this will include making it more ethnically¹⁷ representative of the country. The Balanta is the largest ethnic group in Guinea-Bissau, but there are other large ethnic groups like the Fula, Manjaca, Mandinga and Papel, who often feel marginalized.

The Balanta control the highest positions in the military. The last chief of the armed forces who was not a Balanta, former General Verissimo Correia Seabra, a Papel, was killed in an army mutiny in October 2004. The mutineers stopped their action when they were given amnesty for abuses dating back to 1980 and a Balanta, General Na Waie, was selected as army chief of staff.

1 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 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。

4 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

5 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

6 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

7 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

10 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

11 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

12 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

13 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。

14 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。

15 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

16 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。

17 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句