2016年经济学人 本周政治要闻 墨西哥一监狱发生争斗49名犯人死亡 教皇方济各访问墨西哥

 

Obama to Havana

奥巴马三月将访古巴

Barack Obama is expected to visit Cuba in March. His visit will be the first by an American president to the island since Calvin Coolidge went in 1928. Since December 2014 the United States has eased its embargo¹ on Cuba and the two countries have restored diplomatic relations. This week they signed an agreement that will allow scheduled flights between the two countries to resume after an interruption of more than 50 years.

巴拉克·奥巴马将于三月访问古巴，他将是自1928年卡尔文·柯立芝（Calvin Coolidge）访问古巴后首位到访该国的美国总统。自2014年12月以来，美国放松对古巴的禁运，两国恢复外交关系。本周他们签署了一项协议，该协议将使两国中断了五十多年的定期航班重新开始运营。

In Mexico 49 inmates² at the Topo Chico prison in Monterrey, the capital of the state of Nuevo León, were killed in fighting between factions³ of the Zeta drug gang. The jail was overcrowded and understaffed, but in some cells investigators⁴ found portable saunas, air conditioners and other luxuries.

位于墨西哥新莱昂州州府蒙特雷的多波契各（Topo Chico）监狱发生Zeta贩毒团伙帮派斗争，49名犯人丧生。该监狱人满为患且狱警短缺，但调查者在几间牢房里发现了可携式桑拿设备、空调和其他奢侈品。

Pope Francis paid a visit to Mexico. He ended his trip in Ciudad Juárez, near the United States border, where he highlighted the plight⁵ of migrants and visited a jail.

教皇方济各（Pope Francis）访问墨西哥，在靠近美国边境的华雷斯城（Ciudad Juárez）结束了行程。他强调了移民问题的困境并拜访了一所监狱。

Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's president, raised petrol prices—the first time they have gone up in 20 years—devalued one official exchange rate for the bolívar and said another would be allowed to float. Even after a 60-fold increase in its price, Venezuela's petrol will still be the cheapest in the world. Meanwhile, Luis Salas left his job as Venezuela's economic tsar after just six weeks. He had unconventional views, such as holding that inflation is caused by unscrupulous capitalists.

委内瑞拉（Venezuela）总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗（Nicolás Maduro）提高石油价格（此为20年来首次），并将委内瑞拉货币玻利瓦尔（bolívar）的一种官方汇率贬值，并称将允许另一种汇率有所浮动。该国石油价格尽管增长了60倍，但仍为全世界最低。与此同时，路易斯·萨拉斯（Luis Salas）卸任该国经济部长，这距离其上任仅短短六周。他持有非传统观点，比如抑制由无良资本家造成的通货膨胀。

Both America and Taiwan alleged⁶ that China has placed surface-to-air missiles on the South China Sea's Woody Island, which is claimed also by Taiwan and Vietnam. If true it would heighten military tensions in the disputed sea, through which a third of world trade passes. China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, called the allegation an invention of the Western media.

美国和台湾都断言中国大陆在中国南海永兴岛（Woody Island）（台湾和越南也声称对该岛屿的所有权）部署地对空导弹。若此为真，此争议海域的军事局势则将更加紧张。世界上三分之一的贸易经由此海域。中国外交部长王毅称，该断言是西方媒体在“制造新闻”。

China decided⁷ to move more than 9,000 people to prevent electromagnetic interference with the world's largest radio telescope, which will start to operate later this year in the south-western province of Guizhou. Chinese scientists involved in the project told the country's state-owned news agency that the instrument would help in the search for intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.

中国决定迁移9000多人以避免电磁干扰，来建立世界上最大的射电望远镜。该项目将于今年晚些时候在西南部省份贵州省启动。参与该项目的中国科学家对该国国有媒体称，该设备将帮助探索宇宙其他空间的智慧生命。

Britain said that the disappearance⁸ of a bookseller in Hong Kong, presumed to have been abducted⁹ by Chinese security agents, amounted to a “serious breach” of an agreement reached between China and Britain in 1984 on the handover of the colony to Chinese rule. The bookseller, Lee Bo, is a British citizen. Four of his colleagues are also believed to have been snatched while visiting Thailand and the Chinese mainland. China has confirmed it is detaining them.

英国推测香港书商失踪是被中国安全局绑架，并称这实际上“严重违背”了1984年英国向中国移交殖民地香港时双方达成的协议。书商李波是一名英国公民。外界认为他的其他四名同事也在访问泰国和中国大陆期间被抓。中国确认他们被拘留。

In India a student leader, Kanhaiya Kumar, who was arrested after protesting in 2013 against the hanging of a Kashmiri militant¹⁰, was charged with sedition¹¹ under a colonial-era law. Academics, students and others staged demonstrations¹², saying the charges were unreasonable¹³. A former university lecturer has also been arrested for sedition.

印度学生领袖库玛曾于2013年抗议反对克什米尔武装分子被绞刑而被捕，如今根据殖民地时期的法律他又被指控煽动暴乱。学者、学生和其他示威者称，该指控不合情理。一名前大学讲师也被逮捕。

Sindh became the first ever province in Pakistan, an Islamic republic, to give Hindus the right officially to register their marriages. The aim is to protect the country's 3m Hindus. Women of that faith have been vulnerable to forced conversions¹⁴ and abductions, with widows left especially unprotected.

伊斯兰共和国巴基斯坦的信德省成为该国首个官方允许印度教徒注册婚姻的省份。此举的目的是保护该国300万的印度教徒。该国信奉印度教的妇女易被强迫改变宗教信仰和绑架，特别是寡妇更不受保护。

1 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

2 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

4 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

6 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

9 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

10 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

11 sedition   

n.煽动叛乱

参考例句：

• Government officials charged him with sedition.政府官员指控他煽动人们造反。
• His denial of sedition was a denial of violence.他对煽动叛乱的否定又是对暴力的否定。

12 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。

13 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

14 conversions   

变换( conversion的名词复数 )； （宗教、信仰等）彻底改变； （尤指为居住而）改建的房屋； 橄榄球（触地得分后再把球射中球门的）附加得分

参考例句：

• He kicked a penalty goal and two conversions, ie in Rugby football. 他一次罚球得分，两次触地后射门得分（在橄榄球赛中）。
• Few of the intermediates or enzymes involved in these conversions have been isolated from higher plants. 在这些转变中包含的少数中间产物或酶已经从高等植物中分离出来。