奥巴马访问古巴:丰硕成果还是碌碌无为?

Obama's Visit to Cuba: Changing Everything? Or Nothing? 奥巴马访问古巴:丰硕成果还是碌碌无为?

On Monday, President Obama will speak directly to the Cuban people from Havana in a speech that the Cuban government says will be broadcast nationwide. Supporters say Obama's historic visit to Cuba is a “game-changer.” Detractors say it isn't changing anything.

Not too long ago, it would have been unthinkable for an American president to speak to the Cuban people. And the White House says in his remarks Obama will talk about greater freedoms for Cubans – even more unthinkable.

Experts say Obama’s speech – and his visit – will send a message of hope to the people on an island that’s entering a new phase.

“He will in a sense say ‘I am respectfully visiting this country; we have our ideological² differences, but that does not mean that we cannot find common ground and normalcy,' " said Peter Kornbluh, co-author of Back Channel to Cuba.

The Obama administration and supporters of the diplomatic restart between the two countries say the goal of the President's visit is to make the ties “irreversible.”

“I think in just five or six years, you're going to see full access to the Internet in Cuba, you're going to see a really, a fully¹ mixed economy in Cuba, and we’ll be in the post-Castro era where frankly³, political evolution is not only likely, but inevitable," Kornbluh said.

Critical of visit

Obama’s policy has staunch critics, who say the White House has given too many concessions⁴ to Cuba with nothing in return. They state conditions in the island remain unchanged and that repression⁵ has worsened.

“People are getting beat up, the Ladies in White, las Damas de Blanco, are getting beat up every Sunday," said Mike Gonzalez of the Heritage Foundation. "President Obama’s visit is only going to legitimize the regime to the world, to the United States and to the poor oppressed Cuban people who are going to say: who has my back now?”

The White House argues more than 50 years of animosity didn’t get any results. But critics say the transition will not lead to democracy.

“We’re going to have, right at our doorstep, a situation akin⁶ to China where we have a communist dictatorship, slash⁷, mafia family, fascistic regime controlling an island that’s only 90 miles from our border and we’re going to have that now for a very long time unless Mr. Obama’s policies are reversed by the next president," Gonzalez said.

That’s one reason detractors hope a Republican takes the White House in November. They have vowed⁸ to end the policy if they win the presidency⁹ – something the Obama administration is aiming to head off.

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

3 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

4 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

5 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

6 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

7 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

8 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

9 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。