2014年经济学人 墨西哥日益增长的犯罪率

Mexico's growing crisis

Reforms and democracy, but no rule of law

To save a promising¹ presidency², Enrique Peaa Nieto must tackle crime and corruption⁴

DURING two years in office Mexico's president, Enrique Peaa Nieto, has received sharply contrasting reviews at home and abroad. Foreigners, including The Economist⁵, have praised his structural⁶ reforms of the economy, which include an historic measure to open up energy to private investment. Yet polls show that most Mexicans dislike Mr Peaa. Among other things, they blame his government for a squeeze on living standards and the interlinked problems of violent crime and corruption. Sadly, recent events have lent support to Mr Peaa's domestic critics.

On November 8th Mexico's attorney-general announced what almost everyone had already concluded: that 43 students from a teacher-training college in the southern state of Guerrero, who disappeared in the town of Iguala in late September, had been murdered by drug-traffickers after being kidnapped by the local police on the orders of the town's mayor. Guerrero has been Mexico's most violent state for centuries. The federal government bears no direct responsibility for these events. But Mexicans see in them a symbol of the failure of Mr Peaa's administration to make security a priority.

Now comes a problem that is uncomfortably close to home. The government had already opted⁷ to cancel a contract for a high-speed train that it had hastily awarded to the sole bidder⁸, a consortium of Chinese and Mexican companies including a construction firm from the president's home state. A local journalist has revealed that the boss of the same firm owns a mansion⁹ that is the Peaa family's private residence. The president denies any wrongdoing, but a common thread runs through these events.

Mexico only became a democracy in 2000, when seven decades of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the political machine that raised Mr Peaa, were ended by electoral defeat. Unfortunately, democracy did not bring the rule of law to Mexico. Too many in the PRI still see the job of the police and the courts as enforcing political control, rather than investigating mobsters. Corrupt³ politicians are protected rather than punished. Organised crime and graft¹⁰ both remain a part of everyday life, and neither has been helped by the drugs flowing north to the United States.

Some things have changed. The Supreme¹¹ Court now operates professionally. A 41,000-strong federal police force is more capable than most of its local counterparts. Felipe Calderón, Mr Peaa's predecessor¹², weakened the drugs gangs, but at the price of a surging murder rate and unchecked abuses by the security forces. On paper, Mr Peaa has a grand crime-prevention strategy. However his real efforts have been focused on the economy. The murder rate may have fallen back slightly, but extortion and kidnappings have not. Tycoons¹³ practise espionage¹⁴ and bribe¹⁵ judges. For many Mexicans, Iguala was a reminder¹⁶ of the gap between justice for the poor and for the rich.

How to end impunity¹⁷

Mr Peaa's people rightly say that the rule of law cannot be imposed in Mexico overnight. But that is no excuse for inaction today. Iguala is not the only town where criminals run the police: in such places, the federal government should take temporary control of the police and administration. Mr Peaa should lead an effort to clean up state police forces and local courts. A bill to make the attorney-general's office independent and to create an anti-corruption agency should be fast-tracked. Federalism in Mexico needs change, too: states and municipalities raise almost no funds of their own and are not held to account for their spending. It is an indictment¹⁸ of all three main political parties that the elements in Mr Peaa's reform pact¹⁹ to make politicians accountable have yet to be approved.

However impressive Mr Peaa's economic reforms, Mexico will never manage to achieve its considerable potential without an honest, efficient criminal-justice system. Its democracy will lose legitimacy²⁰ if its politicians continue to tolerate graft. Mr Peaa's domestic critics say that he is a skin-deep moderniser, steeped in his party's bad old ways. Now is the time for him to prove them wrong.

1 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

2 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。

3 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

6 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

7 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

8 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。

9 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

10 graft   

n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接

参考例句：

• I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
• The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。

11 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

12 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

13 tycoons   

大君( tycoon的名词复数 )； 将军； 企业巨头； 大亨

参考例句：

• The great tycoons were fierce competitors, single-minded in their pursuit of financial success and power. 企业巨头都是激烈的竞争者，他们一心追求钱财和权势。
• Tycoons and their conglomerates are even raising money again on international markets. 企业大亨们以及他们的企业甚至正再次从国际市场上筹集资金。

14 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

15 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

16 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

17 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

18 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

19 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

20 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。