Aristide Granted Temporary Asylum in South Africa

 

Challiss McDonough

The South African government has agreed to give temporary asylum¹ to former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The decision comes several days after South Africa received a formal request from the ousted² Haitian leader, and has sparked criticism from South African opposition³ parties.
A South African government spokesman says the cabinet approved a request to give the former Haitian leader a temporary home until the political situation in Haiti stabilizes⁴ enough for him to return.
The government has steered⁶ away from the term asylum, but analysts⁸ say that is essentially⁹ what it is.
Senior analyst⁷ Steven Friedman of the Center for Policy Studies says South Africa has agreed to shelter Mr. Aristide because it strongly believes that he was unconstitutionally removed from power.
Mr. Friedman says Haiti is a country with great symbolic¹⁰ importance for many South Africans.
"There is an important symbolic message which Haiti sends out, which President Mbeki has mentioned," he noted¹¹. "It was the first independent black-ruled republic and has not turned out particularly well, and that is obviously a message which South Africans have to take seriously. And secondly¹², I repeat that Aristide remains¹³ an absolutely vital player if there is going to be a democratic outcome in Haiti."
The government spokesman says South Africa will be financially responsible for Mr. Aristide's residence and upkeep while he is in the country.
South Africa's largest opposition party has objected to giving the Haitian leader asylum, saying South African taxpayers¹⁵ should not have to support him. The opposition also criticizes Mr. Aristide's human rights record.
But Mr. Friedman of the Center for Policy Studies says the opposition party has taken an overly simplistic view of the situation.
"Well, I think first of all it is reflecting a very widely held view about Haiti which I think is misconceived. And that widely held view is that Aristide is just another dictator who subverted¹⁶ the democratic process and oppressed Haitian people," he said. "And I think that's a severe misreading of the situation. I mean he is not an angel. But he was just about the only politician in the history of Haiti to win a free and fair election, and I think that needs to be taken seriously."
The South African government says it has consulted not only with the African Union and the Caribbean regional organization CARICOM, but also with the United States and France, which agree that South Africa should offer Mr. Aristide a temporary home.
The Haitian leader fled to the Central African Republic in late February after an armed revolt in Haiti. He is currently in Jamaica. South Africa says it is not sure when he will be arriving here, but one local newspaper says it could be as early as next week.
注释：
asylum [E5sailEm] n. 庇护，（政治）避难
ousted [austid] adj. 被驱逐的
spark [spB:k] vt. 鼓动
cabinet [5kAbinit] n. 内阁
steer⁵ [stiE] v. 操纵，控制
analyst [5AnElist] n. 分析家
unconstitutionally [5QnkCnsti5tju:FEnEli] adv. 违反宪法地
democratic [7demE5krAtik] adj. 民主的
upkeep [5Qpki:p] n. 维修费
taxpayer¹⁴ [5tAks7peiE] n. 纳税人
simplistic [sim5plistik] adj. 过分简单化的
misconceived [5miskEn5si:vd] adj. 误解的
CARICOM 加勒比共同体
revolt [ri5vEult] n. 叛乱，叛变
Jamaica [dVE5meikE] n. 牙买加

1 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

2 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。

3 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。

4 stabilizes   

n.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的名词复数 )v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The broadbased attachment of the mesenteric root stabilizes the small bowel. 肠系膜根部基底宽阔的附着面使小肠得以稳定。 来自辞典例句
• The available supply of industrial product and produce stabilizes growth. 工业品与农产品的有效供给稳定增长。 来自互联网

5 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

6 steered   

v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• He steered the boat into the harbour. 他把船开进港。
• The freighter steered out of Santiago Bay that evening. 那天晚上货轮驶出了圣地亚哥湾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 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。

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

15 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

16 subverted   

v.颠覆，破坏（政治制度、宗教信仰等）( subvert的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某人）道德败坏或不忠

参考例句：

• Their wills could be subverted only by death. 只有死神才能使他们放弃他们的意志。 来自教父部分
• Indiana State laws deliberately subverted the intent of the constitutions 14th Amendment. 印第安纳州的法律有意歪曲联邦宪法第十四条修正案的愿意。 来自辞典例句