美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why the Mexican border city of Matamoros is under heavy scrutiny

Why the Mexican border city of Matamoros is under heavy scrutiny¹

Transcript²

A glimpse into life under the drug cartels in the Mexican border city of Matamoros — the scene of the recent kidnap and murder of some American tourists.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

When four Americans were kidnapped in a Mexican border city and two of them killed, that brought immediate³ attention to the severe organized crime problem in that community. NPR's Eyder Peralta brings us this story about what life is like for the people who live in Matamoros.

EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE⁴: It's really hard to talk to people here. You approach them, and they laugh nervously⁵. They apologize and say, the only way to survive here is not to see anything, not to say anything and not to hear anything. But I get lucky as I walk the international bridge closer to the U.S. border. A couple of ladies in their 60s are waiting for their adult children to come back from work from the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Spanish).

PERALTA: "In the past, kids used to play in the streets in Matamoros," she says. Now she's so afraid that something could happen to her son she escorts him to and from the U.S. border every day. We're not using her name because she fears retribution.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Spanish).

PERALTA: By 6:30, she says, her doors are locked, and they brace⁶ for gun battles.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Through interpreter) The old men are out doing their thing, and you have to stay quiet.

PERALTA: Here, they call members of the Gulf⁷ Cartel the old men, the people, la mana, which translates roughly to the vice⁸. You don't actually see them here, but you see signs of them. You see Suburbans with blacked-out windows. You see tons of cars without license⁹ plates and young men with two-way radios lounging on street corners. Francisco Rivas studies crime at the Observatorio Nacional Ciudadano, and he says the nature of organized crime in Mexico has changed dramatically in the past two decades. As trafficking drugs into the United States got harder, cartels expanded their business.

FRANCISCO RIVAS: For example, they came to your shop and say you cannot sell cigarettes.

PERALTA: They told shopkeepers, if you want to live, you can buy only the cigarettes we sell you and at this price.

RIVAS: Same happen for chickens, for eggs, for meat, for avocado, for beer.

PERALTA: And this has meant violence and corruption¹⁰ has exploded, pulling in Mexicans who are just trying to make a living. And Rivas says the federal government is simply looking the other way.

RIVAS: There is no justice. (Speaking Spanish).

PERALTA: In the past four years, he says, the feds haven't arrested or charged a single extortion ring.

GLADY CANAS AGUILAR: (Speaking Spanish).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Spanish).

CANAS AGUILAR: (Speaking Spanish).

PERALTA: We meet Glady Canas Aguilar at her office, where she helps migrants trying to cross into the United States. She says migrants are another big business for organized crime here.

CANAS AGUILAR: (Through interpreter) To them, they are not humans. They are merchandise.

PERALTA: Yes, she says. They are smuggling¹¹ people across the border, but they also work in more pernicious ways. A few months ago, for example, they were selling a Mexican document for $130 when it should only cost $1. Canas was angry, so she took to the streets with a bullhorn to tell the migrants that her office would process the document for free. Shortly after, an armed man showed up at her office.

CANAS AGUILAR: (Speaking Spanish).

PERALTA: He shoved his way into the room and asked for her by name. And then as he left, he flashed his gun and issued a cryptic¹² warning.

CANAS AGUILAR: (Through interpreter) He said, just know that I've given you a warning.

PERALTA: She called police. They came after 45 minutes, but they never made an arrest. This is the way Matamoros operates, she says.

CANAS AGUILAR: (Through interpreter) They intimidate¹³ us with the power of their guns. They rule with the fear that they impose on people.

PERALTA: And the truth is, she was scared, she tells me, because people go missing here. Just outside town, there's La Bartolina, what activists¹⁴ call an extermination¹⁵ field where they believe some 2,000 people might be buried. Canas closed her office for a few weeks, and she stayed home, worried that they would come after her. Ultimately, she's decided¹⁶ to continue her work.

CANAS AGUILAR: (Through interpreter) At home, I was a prisoner of fear. Staying home meant they had won.

PERALTA: One law enforcement officer we spoke¹⁷ to describes the situation in Matamoros as chaos¹⁸.

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: (Through interpreter) The police that came in have let the situation get out of control.

PERALTA: This man has been in law enforcement for decades. We're not using his voice, and we're not using his name because he fears retribution from the cartels. And what he describes is a complete rot of law enforcement. Members of the cartels offer cars and huge sums of money to commanders to look the other way. And when citizens call police, they get the runaround.

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: (Through interpreter) Call the National Guard, the police say. And then the National Guard tell the person, oh, I can't help you. And then three or four hours pass, and suddenly nobody saw anything. Nobody heard anything.

PERALTA: This officer says he's been asked by his superiors not to file police reports. They're instructed to ignore gunfire. He says he's always tried to stay above the fray¹⁹, not take any bribes²⁰. But one day he got a phone call, and the guy on the line said...

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: (Through interpreter) I want $5,000 by 3 o'clock. And if not, we know where you live.

PERALTA: They described his family vehicle, so he went to his bosses at the station, but they did nothing. He says they simply told him, you just take care.

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: (Through interpreter) And it's a little hard here because...

PERALTA: He pauses. He puts his face in his hands.

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: (Through interpreter) Well, it's the family.

PERALTA: His voice cracks. (Speaking Spanish), he repeats. It's impossible, he says. It's impossible to live here.

Eyder Peralta, NPR News, Matamoros, Mexico.

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1 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

2 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。

3 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 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。

5 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

6 brace   

n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备

参考例句：

• My daughter has to wear a brace on her teeth. 我的女儿得戴牙套以矫正牙齿。
• You had better brace yourself for some bad news. 有些坏消息,你最好做好准备。

7 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

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 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

10 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。

11 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

12 cryptic   

adj.秘密的，神秘的，含义模糊的

参考例句：

• She made a cryptic comment about how the film mirrored her life.她隐晦地表示说这部电影是她人生的写照。
• The new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms.新的保险单在编写时没有隐秘条款或秘密条款。

13 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

14 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》

15 extermination   

n.消灭，根绝

参考例句：

• All door and window is sealed for the extermination of mosquito. 为了消灭蚊子，所有的门窗都被封闭起来了。 来自辞典例句
• In doing so they were saved from extermination. 这样一来却使它们免于绝灭。 来自辞典例句

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 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。

18 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

19 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。

20 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏