2007年VOA标准英语-Nicaragua Welcomes Iranian Aid

By Bill Rodgers
Washington
09 August 2007
 

Iran has pledged tens of millions of dollars in aid for infrastructure¹ projects in Nicaragua in a move viewed with alarm in some quarters.  Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who was a Cold War nemesis² for Washington in the 1980s, is seeking closer ties with countries the Bush administration considers unfriendly -- while Tehran is looking for allies in Latin America.   More from VOA's Bill Rodgers.

Presidents Ortega and Ahmadinejad

The last time Daniel Ortega was in power, in the 1980s, Washington backed rebels fighting to depose³ his Marxist government.  Supported by the then-Soviet Union with arms, Nicaragua under Mr. Ortega's Sandinista government became a Cold War battleground.

But the world has changed, and since Mr. Ortega's inauguration⁴ in January as president, relations between Washington and Managua have been cordial.

Yet the Nicaraguan leader is also working to deepen ties with Cuba, Venezuela and now Iran -- all nations at odds⁵ with the United States. 

This alarms some, including former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Roger Noriega of the American Enterprise Institute. "You really have to go out of your way to reach out to one of the four biggest rogue⁶ states in the world, Iran, which is recognized as a pariah⁷ by all the respectable countries of the world,” says Noriega. “So unfortunately, President Ortega seems to be going back to the past."

President Ortega visited Tehran in June, where he was warmly welcomed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  For his part, the Iranian leader is using his country's oil wealth to court allies in Latin America, according to Michael Shifter, an expert on Latin America at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington.

Michael Shifter

"They're obviously under enormous criticism from a lot of governments, not only the United States but European governments and other governments, and they want, I think, more respectability and to the extent that they can have a few governments in Latin America where they are accepted and where they can operate. I think for them it gives them an attempt to overcome this pariah status that they have right now," says Shifter.

This apparently⁸ was the objective of President Ahmadinejad's trip to Latin America in January, where his first stop was Venezuela.  There, he and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez cemented their relationship, bound together by their mutual⁹ antagonism¹⁰ toward Washington.  Mr. Ahmadinejad also stopped in Nicaragua during that trip, a visit that laid the groundwork for Iran's assistance to the Central American nation. 

While the aid is expected to further deepen ties between Managua and Tehran, the announcement from Managua prompted a relatively¹¹ mild reaction by U.S. State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack.

"Nicaragua is a sovereign, independent state. It's going to have bilateral¹² relations with whatever states it sees fit to have relations with.  We think it is in the interests of Nicaragua, as well as other states in the region, to deepen its relationships with those states which have a positive vision of the future in terms of Nicaragua's democracy, expanding that democracy, deepening that democracy," McCormack said

For Mr. Ortega, who won last November's presidential election on promises of political moderation, aid from Iran and Venezuela is a welcome boost to his government. 

Yet he also is well aware these ties do not please Washington, according to Michael Shifter. "Ortega has changed somewhat but he is still somebody who ideologically¹³, I think, does have a lot of resentment¹⁴ towards the United States and I do think he wants to be empowered but at the same time, its important to remember he is not breaking with the United States."

But as one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, most Nicaraguans are likely to welcome the aid -- whatever the source.

1 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

2 nemesis   

n.给以报应者，复仇者，难以对付的敌手

参考例句：

• Uncritical trust is my nemesis.盲目的相信一切害了我自己。
• Inward suffering is the worst of Nemesis.内心的痛苦是最厉害的惩罚。

3 depose   

vt.免职；宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The witness is going to depose.证人即将宣誓做证。
• The emperor attempted to depose the Pope.皇帝企图废黜教皇。

4 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

5 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

6 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

7 pariah   

n.被社会抛弃者

参考例句：

• Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village.不一会儿，汤姆碰上了村里的少年弃儿。
• His landlady had treated him like a dangerous criminal,a pariah.房东太太对待他就像对待危险的罪犯、对待社会弃儿一样。

8 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

9 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

10 antagonism   

n.对抗，敌对，对立

参考例句：

• People did not feel a strong antagonism for established policy.人们没有对既定方针产生强烈反应。
• There is still much antagonism between trades unions and the oil companies.工会和石油公司之间仍然存在着相当大的敌意。

11 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

12 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

13 ideologically   

adv. 意识形态上地，思想上地

参考例句：

• Ideologically, they have many differences. 在思想意识上，他们之间有许多不同之处。
• He has slipped back ideologically. 他思想退步了。

14 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。