经济学人38:谁主沉浮 Man of the moment

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review;Chile;Man of the moment;

　　文艺；书评；智利;谁主沉浮;

　　The Southern Tiger: Chile's Fight for a Democratic and Prosperous Future. By Ricardo Lagos with Blake Hounshell and Elizabeth Dickinson.

　　《南虎：智利为民主繁荣的未来而战》，Ricardo Lagos、Blake Hounshell 和 Elizabeth Dickinson 著。

　　In 1988 General Augusto Pinochet organised a plebiscite that he was confident would grant him another eight years of absolute power. Ricardo Lagos, a hitherto little-known Socialist¹ leader, used a live television programme—the first to feature opposition² politicians since Pinochet's military coup³ of 1973—to defy the climate of fear that was the dictator's most powerful political weapon. Pointing his finger at the camera, he addressed him directly, saying that it was inadmissible that he sought to remain in power. Ignoring the presenter's attempt to cut him off, Mr Lagos said “I am speaking for 15 years of silence.”

　　1988年，奥古斯托·皮诺切特将军举行了一次全民公投，他自信这次公投会让他再独裁八年。社会党领袖里卡多·拉各斯当时还鲜为人知，他利用电视直播节目挑衅恐惧气氛，人们担心这次公投是独裁者最强大的政治武器。这是自1973年皮诺切特发动军事政变以来，反对派政治家首次在荧屏亮相。拉各斯用手指指着摄像机，直接对皮诺切特发表演说，表示不许他继续掌权。拉各斯无视主持人打断他的企图，说道：“我在为15年的沉寂代言。”

　　It was a turning point. The opposition went on to win the plebiscite, ushering⁴ in Chile's transition to democracy. Mr Lagos would become a minister in the first two democratic governments, and was elected Chile's president in 2000. By far the most interesting and moving part of his memoir⁵ concerns his patient and difficult work to build opposition to the dictatorship.

　　这是一个转折点。反对派接着赢得了全民公投，迎来智利向民主的过渡。拉各斯成为前两届民主政府的部长，2000年他当选为智利总统。迄今为止，他的回忆录中最有趣最感动人心的部分是他极具耐心又历尽艰难地建立了反对独裁的在野党。

　　After Pinochet overthrew⁶ the elected far-left government of Salvador Allende, almost 3,000 people were murdered or disappeared, 29,000 were imprisoned⁷ (nearly all of them were tortured) and some 200,000 sought refuge abroad. Mr Lagos, an academic economist⁸, was an adviser⁹ to the Allende government but not a member of it. After the coup, he taught in the United States, before returning to Chile in 1978. He played a prominent role in coaxing¹⁰ into existence a broad centre-left front, called the Concertación. He disagreed with the far-left over its refusal to rule out violence against the regime. That didn't spare him from being detained for 18 days after a failed assassination¹¹ attempt against Pinochet by communists.

　　皮诺切特推翻了极左的民选萨尔瓦多·阿连德政府之后，有近3000人被杀害或失踪，29000人被监禁，几乎所有被监禁的人都受到了折磨，还有大约20万人到国外避难。理论经济学家拉各斯是阿连德政府的顾问，不是政府成员。政变后他在美国任教，直到1978年才回到智利。争取民主联盟是智利明显中间偏左的阵线，拉各斯在耐心成立它的过程中发挥了突出作用。他不赞成极左派采取暴力抵抗政权。共产党人企图暗杀皮诺切特失败后，这点并未让他免于十八天的拘留。

　　In the first of its two decades in power the Concertación had to govern in Pinochet's shadow. That was changed by the dictator's arrest in London in October 1998 at the request of a Spanish magistrate¹²; by the Chilean Supreme¹³ Court's decision to lift his immunity¹⁴ and by the revelation that he had stolen $30m. As president, Mr Lagos oversaw¹⁵ a national dialogue about the past that saw the army own up to its abuses and apologise for them. He is surely right that the process of reconciliation¹⁶, of finding out the truth about what happened and punishing the abusers where possible, required both time and political determination.

　　争取民主联盟执政二十年，起初不得不在皮诺切特的阴影下进行统治。1998年10月应一位西班牙法官的要求，独裁者皮诺切特在伦敦被捕，智利最高法院决定解除他的豁免权，他侵占3000万美元一事也被披露，这些改变了这种局面。过去军队承认滥用并为此道歉，作为总统，拉各斯监督有关这段过去的全国对话。他无疑是正确的，找出所发生事情的真相，并在可能的情况下惩罚滥用者，这样的和解进程既需要时间又需要政治决心。

　　In office Mr Lagos tried to combine a free-market economy with public policies designed to create a less unequal society. He had some success: he signed free-trade agreements with the United States and the European Union and created new anti-poverty, health and housing programmes. This modern and moderate social democracy is an implicit¹⁷ rebuke¹⁸ to Allende, whom he is reluctant to criticise¹⁹ directly.

　　执政期间，拉各斯试图把自由市场经济与公共政策相结合，而这些公共政策旨在创建一个少些不平等的社会。他取得了一些成功，与美国和欧盟签署了自由贸易协定，并制订了新的反贫困、健康与住房计划。这种温和的现代社会民主是对阿连德含蓄的指责，他不愿直接批评阿连德。

　　Despite its title, the book is infuriatingly perfunctory in its treatment of Chile's impressive socioeconomic progress under the Concertación. Mr Lagos's presidency²⁰ merits just two chapters, one of which focuses on foreign policy. It was to the author's abiding²¹ credit that Chile, a member of the UN Security Council at the time, refused to back George Bush's rush to war against Iraq.

　　智利在争取民主联盟执政时所取得的社会经济进步令人印象深刻，但本书不顾它的标题，对这点的处理敷衍塞责，让人气愤。拉各斯总统任期的功绩只有两章，其中一章还侧重于对外政策。智利当时是联合国安理会成员国，它拒绝支持乔治·布什匆忙发动对伊战争，这点让拉各斯享有了持久声望。

　　Mr Lagos broadly welcomes the student protests that broke out in Chile last year, after the Concertación left office. “These are the children of Chile's democracy, born after the fall of the dictator and raised in a country that has come to expect and demand responsive and responsible government,” he writes. But he doesn't say what he thinks of the student demand to abolish for-profit education. The reader is left wondering whether he might have done more when president to reduce income inequality through tax reform.

　　去年争取民主联盟下野后，智利爆发了学生抗议活动，拉各斯明白地表示欢迎。他写道，“这些学生是智利民主的儿童，出生在独裁者下台之后，成长在期待并要求政府敏感负责的国家。”。但他对学生要求废除以营利为目的的教育没有表示看法。当总统要通过税制改革来减少收入不平衡，拉各斯是否可以做得更多？他把这个问题留给了读者猜疑。

　　“The Southern Tiger” is occasionally marred²² by the breezy Americanisms of Mr Lagos's co-writers, journalists at Foreign Policy magazine. But between them they have produced a readable book about the consolidation²³ of democracy in Latin America. The pity is that it could have been a much more profound one.

　　拉各斯的合著者是《对外政策》杂志的记者，他们轻松活泼的美国风偶尔给《南虎》投下了败笔。不过他们与拉各斯通力合作，写出了一部有关拉丁美洲巩固民主的书，值得一读。可惜的是，本来该书可以写得更深刻些。

1 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

2 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。

3 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。

4 ushering   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They were right where the coach-caller was swinging open a coach-door and ushering in two ladies. "他们走到外面时，叫马车的服务员正打开车门，请两位小姐上车。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Immediately the two of them approached others, thanking them, ushering them out one by one. 他们俩马上走到其他人面前，向他们道谢，一个个送走了他们。 来自辞典例句

5 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

6 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

7 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

8 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。

9 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

10 coaxing   

v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱；“锻炼”效应

参考例句：

• No amount of coaxing will make me change my mind. 任你费尽口舌也不会说服我改变主意。
• It took a lot of coaxing before he agreed. 劝说了很久他才同意。 来自辞典例句

11 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

12 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

13 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

14 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

15 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

16 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

17 implicit   

a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的

参考例句：

• A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
• Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。

18 rebuke   

v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise

参考例句：

• He had to put up with a smart rebuke from the teacher.他不得不忍受老师的严厉指责。
• Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.哪怕迟到一分钟也将受到严厉的斥责。

19 criticise   

v.批评，评论；非难

参考例句：

• Right and left have much cause to criticise government.左翼和右翼有很多理由批评政府。
• It is not your place to criticise or suggest improvements!提出批评或给予改进建议并不是你的责任！

20 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

21 abiding   

adj.永久的，持久的，不变的

参考例句：

• He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
• He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。

22 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

23 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法