美国国家公共电台 NPR--In a continued crackdown on dissent, Nicaragua strips 94 people of their citizenship

In a continued crackdown on dissent¹, Nicaragua strips 94 people of their citizenship²

Transcript³

A crackdown by Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega takes a new turn as he strips political opponents of their citizenship. Since popular protests erupted in 2018, Ortega has consolidated⁴ his power.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

In Nicaragua, the government of President Daniel Ortega is ramping⁵ up its attacks on political dissidents.

ASMA KHALID, HOST:

Last week, Nicaragua banished⁶ 222 political prisoners. The country took away their citizenship, put them on a plane and sent them to Washington, D.C. This week, it is continuing those attacks, stripping nearly 100 more dissidents of their citizenship.

FADEL: NPR's Eyder Peralta is following this story from his base in Mexico City. Good morning, Eyder.

EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE⁷: Good morning, Leila.

FADEL: So before we get into the stripping of citizenships, let's go back. If you could just give us a sense of what's led to this point.

PERALTA: Yes. So President Daniel Ortega is a former guerrilla fighter. He helped topple a dictatorship in the '70s. He's been president twice. And in 2018, there was this huge popular rebellion against him. And that's when things changed dramatically in Nicaragua.

Ortega used violence to quash that pro-democracy movement. And then he consolidated power. He and his wife, Vice⁸ President Rosario Murillo, now control all three branches of government. And these past two weeks, they've been flexing⁹ that muscle. Without a public trial, the government has branded many dissidents as traitors¹⁰.

On Wednesday, a judge said that 94 Nicaraguans - and these include human rights activists¹¹, writers, journalists - had been sentenced to what amounts to a civic¹² death. A judge said that they had been stripped of their nationality. They said the government was taking over their possessions and that these people would no longer have any rights in Nicaragua for the rest of their lives.

FADEL: How common is it to denationalize citizens?

PERALTA: You know, I spoke¹³ to Gabriel Chin, and he studies nationality at UC Davis, and he says that this became a thing after the First World War. And what the world realized is that leaving someone stateless was terrible. So the right to nationality was accepted as a universal human right. He says what the Ortega regime has done is a, quote, "clear violation¹⁴ of international human rights law." And he pointed¹⁵ to a case in the United States that shows how serious the situation is. After the First World War, a U.S. soldier was stripped of his nationality for deserting the military in the battlefield. But the Supreme¹⁶ Court actually ruled that this was cruel and unusual punishment. Let's listen.

GABRIEL CHIN: The Army could have sentenced him to death. They could have executed him. But it's cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment¹⁷ to have denied him any nationality whatsoever¹⁸. And that's because the Supreme Court recognized the terrible consequences of being stateless.

PERALTA: And being stateless - let's be clear - means that you lose your right to have rights. At the time, the majority on the Supreme Court wrote that denationalization was, quote, "a form of punishment more primitive¹⁹ than torture."

FADEL: So what are some of the banished saying?

PERALTA: I'm hearing a lot of defiance²⁰, but also uncertainty²¹. And it's not clear yet what's going to happen to dissident Nicaraguans who remain in the country. Nicaragua is a country that defines itself through its poets - they're national heroes there. And now this government has banished two literary giants, Sergio Ramirez and Gioconda Belli. And Belli is a poet, and she didn't release a statement. Instead, she pointed to one of her poems.

And I'll translate a stanza²² for you. She writes, (reading, in Spanish) - and I love you, country of my dreams and my sorrows. And I'll take you with me to wash away your stains in secret. I'll whisper with hope, and promise you cures and spells that will save you. The name of that poem is "Nicaragua."

FADEL: Eyder Peralta in Mexico City - thank you so much.

PERALTA: Thank you, Leila.

1 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

2 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。

5 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

6 banished   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。
• He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

9 flexing   

n.挠曲，可挠性v.屈曲( flex的现在分词 )；弯曲；（为准备大干而）显示实力；摩拳擦掌

参考例句：

• Flexing particular muscles allows snakes to move in several ways. 可弯曲的特殊的肌肉使蛇可以用几种方式移动。 来自电影对白
• China has become an economic superpower and is flexing its muscles. 中国已经成为了一个经济巨人而且在展示他的肌肉。 来自互联网

10 traitors   

卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人

参考例句：

• Traitors are held in infamy. 叛徒为人所不齿。
• Traitors have always been treated with contempt. 叛徒永被人们唾弃。

11 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 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。

17 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

18 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

19 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

20 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

21 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

22 stanza   

n.（诗）节，段

参考例句：

• We omitted to sing the second stanza.我们漏唱了第二节。
• One young reporter wrote a review with a stanza that contained some offensive content.一个年轻的记者就歌词中包含有攻击性内容的一节写了评论。