VOA标准英语2008年-Colombia's Defense Minister Renews Call for Tal

Colombia's defense¹ minister says the country's leftist rebels are greatly weakened and should negotiate an end to the decades-old civil war while they still have a position from which to barter². VOA's Michael Bowman reports, the minister made the comments in Washington, where he had scheduled talks with U.S. military officials.

Recent months have brought a flood of welcome news for Colombia's government in its battle against rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC.

March saw a successful cross-border raid on a FARC camp in Ecuador that netted valuable rebel computer files. In May, reports surfaced of the death of the group's commander Manuel Marulanda. Most recently, Colombian forces tricked the rebels into handing over 15 long-held hostages, including Franco-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.

Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos says the rebels no longer control vast swaths of territory, are experiencing significant command and communications problems, and have lost whatever legitimacy³ they may have once enjoyed among certain sectors⁴ of Colombian society. But he says FARC continues to refuse to negotiate with the government of President Alvaro Uribe.

"They have never wanted to negotiate," said Santos. "They are the ones who have said, 'We do not talk with President Uribe.' If they do not seize the moment, the opportunity [to negotiate], in a year, two years they would have no bargaining chips. Because the momentum⁵ is on our side."

Santos stressed, the rebels are not yet defeated, and pressure must be maintained on them until the battle is won decisively, or until they agree to lay down their arms and rejoin civil society.

The defense minister noted⁶ it was not long ago that much of the country had been lost to the rebels and Colombia came perilously⁷ close to being declared a failed state. He said President Uribe deserves credit for successful military campaigns, the return of law and order in Colombia, and the professionalization of security forces, including a renewed focus on human rights.

"The respect for human rights: the way the military treats the population," Santos said. "We have been telling them in every way possible, 'Your success depends on the approval, the support that the population gives the military.' Today, and I am very proud to say this, the most popular institution in Colombia, by far, is our military and police."

Yet human rights groups say Colombia's record under President Uribe is far from stellar, noting that extra-judicial killings⁸ by security forces remain commonplace. The Washington Office on Latin America notes that more than 300 such killings were reported in Colombia last year.

"Colombia is not going to be resolving its deep-rooted issues, which are basically economic and land issues and social inequality at heart, through militarization," Gimena Sanchez, the group's senior associate for Colombia. "In the six years or so that President Uribe has been in power, we have seen over a million people become newly internally displaced. And so we ask, if the military policy has been successful, why has it not prevented the displacement⁹ of all these people?"

In his remarks, Defense Minister Santos admitted thorny¹⁰ human rights issues remain unresolved in his country, but maintained that significant progress has been made and the country is on the right path.

 

1 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。

2 barter   

n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易

参考例句：

• Chickens,goats and rabbits were offered for barter at the bazaar.在集市上，鸡、山羊和兔子被摆出来作物物交换之用。
• They have arranged food imports on a barter basis.他们以易货贸易的方式安排食品进口。

3 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

4 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

6 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。

7 perilously   

adv.充满危险地，危机四伏地

参考例句：

• They were perilously close to the edge of the precipice. 他们离悬崖边很近，十分危险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It'seemed to me that we had come perilously close to failure already. 对我来说，好像失败和我只有一步之遥，岌岌可危。 来自互联网

8 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

9 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

10 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。