VOA常速英语2007-Bush Wants Freedom Fund for Cuba

By Scott Stearns
White House
24 October 2007

President Bush says Cuba's leaders are more concerned with keeping power than with improving the lives of their people. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, Mr. Bush wants the international community to raise funds to help rebuild Cuba once the island's Communist government is gone.

President Bush says it is time to prepare for a change of power in Cuba.

In a speech at the U.S. State Department, Mr. Bush made clear he is talking about a democratically elected government in Havana, not Fidel Castro passing authority to his brother, Raul.

 

"Life will not improve for Cubans under their current system of government," he said. "It will not improve by exchanging one dictator for another. It will not improve, if we seek accommodation with a new tyranny in the interest of stability."

The president says the operative word in America's future dealing¹ with Cuba is not stability; it is freedom. He says America will not support the old way with new faces, or the old system held together with new chains.

"The Socialist² paradise is a tropical gulag," the president said. "The quest for justice that once inspired the Cuban people has now become a grab for power."

The president says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez will enlist³ foreign governments to contribute to what he hopes will be a multi-billion-dollar 'freedom fund' for Cuba.

Once the government in Havana shows that it respects fundamental freedoms of speech, association, press, and the right to change government through multi-party elections, Mr. Bush says, the money raised will be released to Cuban entrepreneurs to help rebuild their country.

It was the president's first major address on Cuba in four years, and the first since Defense⁴ Minister Raul Castro took charge of a provisional government in July 2006, when his older brother Fidel had emergency intestinal⁵ surgery.

While Fidel Castro has not been seen in public since, he has kept writing. In a Tuesday essay entitled "Bush, Hunger and Death," Mr. Castro writes that President Bush is threatening the world with famine by encouraging the use of corn and other food crops to produce alternative fuels such as ethanol.

Mr. Castro says President Bush is adopting new measures to accelerate political change on the island, equating⁶ that to a new conquest of Cuba by force.

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 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。

3 enlist   

vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍

参考例句：

• They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
• The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会，支持他们的正义斗争。

4 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。

5 intestinal   

adj.肠的；肠壁；肠道细菌

参考例句：

• A few other conditions are in high intestinal obstruction. 其它少数情况是高位肠梗阻。 来自辞典例句
• This complication has occasionally occurred following the use of intestinal antiseptics. 这种并发症偶而发生在使用肠道抗菌剂上。 来自辞典例句

6 equating   

v.认为某事物（与另一事物）相等或相仿( equate的现在分词 )；相当于；等于；把（一事物） 和（另一事物）等同看待

参考例句：

• [ Ray ] I definitely started equating crossword puzzles with songwriting. 我已经干脆开始把字谜游戏等同于歌曲写作了。 来自电影对白
• But they have a hard time equating plural marriage with those evils. 但是他们很难把这种多妻婚姻与上面说的那些坏事联系起来。 来自互联网