美国国家公共电台 NPR Dissident Rebels In Colombia Ignore Peace Treaty And Continue Extortion

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Rebels in Colombia have stopped fighting a civil war. Some have not stopped the techniques they have perfected over the years for making a living. During the war, the rebel group known as the FARC earned millions of dollars by extorting¹ business owners. Now, after a peace deal, a breakaway group of guerrillas continues to attack army troops and threaten merchants. John Otis reports.

JOHN OTIS, BYLINE²: Here in the southern jungle town of San Jose del Guaviare, construction workers repair a beer warehouse³ that was partially⁴ destroyed by a bomb.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Speaking Spanish).

OTIS: The attack came last month after warehouse manager Javier Montoya refused to hand over the equivalent of $175,000 to a small group of FARC rebels who have rejected the peace process.

JAVIER MONTOYA: (Speaking Spanish).

OTIS: Montoya shows me around the warehouse, pointing to shrapnel holes in the ceiling and the small crater⁵ left on the sidewalk out front.

MONTOYA: (Speaking Spanish).

OTIS: "I'm confused," Montoya says. "I never thought this would happen during a peace process." Under Colombia's peace treaty, which was signed last year, nearly all of the FARC'S 7,000 fighters have gathered in special camps where they're handing over their weapons to U.N. monitors. But about 160 FARC rebels broke away from the main group last fall and now operate from jungle hideouts near San Jose del Guaviare. The FARC spent more than 50 years trying to topple the Colombian government. But analysts⁶ say these breakaway guerrillas are out to enrich themselves through drug trafficking, illegal gold mining and extortion. Merchants in San Jose del Guaviare are some of the main victims, says funeral home owner Alexander Bermudez.

ALEXANDER BERMUDEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

OTIS: Bermudez says he receives up to 20 calls per day from dissident FARC members demanding payoffs. To prove his point, he holds up his iPhone and reads through its call register.

BERMUDEZ: (Speaking Spanish) FARC, FARC, FARC, FARC, FARC, FARC.

OTIS: The peace process has provoked security breakdowns⁷ elsewhere in Colombia. With the FARC rebels confined to demobilization camps, some of the territory they once occupied has been taken over by different armed groups. In the northern state of Choco, recent clashes between drug-trafficking gangs and a guerrilla group called the ELN have uprooted⁸ thousands of people from their homes. Meanwhile, the breakaway FARC fighters have killed several army troops. And this month, they briefly⁹ kidnapped a U.N. peace monitor. All of this frustrates¹⁰ Colonel Federico Mejia, chief of the army base in San Jose del Guaviare.

FEDERICO MEJIA: (Speaking Spanish).

OTIS: He says dissident FARC rebels are tough to target because they work in groups of three or four and dress like civilians¹¹. By contrast, he says the large FARC camps of the past could be bombed.

MEJIA: (Speaking Spanish).

OTIS: Still, Mejia claims the peace process has vastly improved security in the region. Local business owners disagree. They claim that extortion is an even bigger problem now than when the war was raging.

(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)

OTIS: Hundreds of merchants recently marched through the streets of San Jose del Guaviare to protest. Among them was Montoya, the warehouse manager. Montoya claims he will not give in to blackmail¹², but he's a nervous wreck¹³. That's because he keeps getting menacing phone calls from FARC dissidents, like this one he recorded.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Speaking Spanish).

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: (Speaking Spanish).

OTIS: In it, the caller promises that there will be no more bombings at his warehouse as long as Montoya forks over the cash. For NPR News, I'm John Otis in San Jose del Guaviare, Colombia.

(SOUNDBITE OF LRKR'S "JOURNEY")

1 extorting   

v.敲诈( extort的现在分词 )；曲解

参考例句：

• Corrupt government officials were extorting money from him. 腐败的政府官员向他敲诈钱财。 来自辞典例句
• He's been charged with extorting protection money from the shopkeepers. 他被指控对店主敲诈勒索保护费。 来自互联网

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

4 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

5 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 breakdowns   

n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析

参考例句：

• Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns. 她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。 来自辞典例句
• How do we prevent these continual breakdowns? 我们如何防止这些一再出现的故障？ 来自辞典例句

8 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

10 frustrates   

v.使不成功( frustrate的第三人称单数 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• What frustrates him is that there's too little money to spend on the project. 使他懊恼的是，可用于这个项目的资金太少。
• His trouble is that he frustrates much easily. 他的毛病是很容易泄气。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

12 blackmail   

n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓

参考例句：

• She demanded ＄1000 blackmail from him.她向他敲诈了1000美元。
• The journalist used blackmail to make the lawyer give him the documents.记者讹诈那名律师交给他文件。

13 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。