2006年VOA标准英语-Rice Travels to Santiago for Bachelet Inau

By David Gollust
Santiago
11 March 2006

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Chile for the inauguration¹ of the South American country's president-elect Michelle Bachelet. On the sidelines of the inaugural² events, Rice will meet other regional leaders including Bolivia's new leftist President Evo Morales.

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Michelle Bachelet   
  

The Rice visit is aimed at underscoring the Bush administration's stated commitment to good relations with the growing number of left-of-center governments in Latin America, including that of Ms. Bachelet, who will become Chile's first woman president.

Despite its decades-old feud³ with Cuban President Fidel Castro and recent sharp exchanges with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Secretary Rice says the United States has no problem with leftist governments, provided they govern democratically.

She will underline that intention with bilateral⁴ meetings in Chile with Ms. Bachelet, Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez, and with Bolivian President Morales, a former coca growers association chief who, when he took office in January, said he would be a nightmare for U.S. policy makers⁵.

Ms. Bachelet's father, a Chilean general, was jailed for opposing the 1973 military coup⁶ by Augusto Pinochet, and the president-elected was jailed and tortured during the 17-year dictatorship.

In an in-flight talk with reporters en route to Chile, Secretary Rice called the election of Ms. Bachelet a story of tragedy and then triumph, and a symbol of what the Chilean people have gone through to get democracy.

She side-stepped a reporters' question about whether the United States regretted its relations with the Pinochet regime, but said the United States helped Chileans restore civilian⁷ rule and that both countries have put the past behind them.

Condoleezza Rice  
  
"There have been people who have had to struggle and who have suffered tragedy in order to make that possible," she said. "I think that is an important message that the United States understands that this journey for Chile was a difficult one. But it has been now quite a long time, and I hope we have been able to put that history behind us."

The secretary of state will be the highest-ranking U.S. official to meet Bolivia's President Morales, though President Bush telephoned him to congratulate him on his election.

Though Mr. Morales has said he wants to legalize the growing of coca, the base ingredient for cocaine⁸, the secretary said he has also spoken of security problems posed by the illegal drug trade and that this is a starting point for discussion.

She said Mr. Morales is from modest means and one of a number of people of indigenous⁹ Indian extraction now coming into government in Latin America, a trend she said is a good thing.

The secretary of state has no meeting planned with Venezuelan President Chavez, with whom she has sparred verbally in recent months, and who will also be attending the inaugural events in the Chilean coastal¹⁰ city of Valparaiso.

But U.S. officials said she would be courteous¹¹ to Mr. Chavez if she encountered him in a social setting.

Secretary Rice told congressmen her concerns about Mr. Chavez are behavior-based and stem from his moves to curb¹² the political opposition¹³, non-governmental and church groups.

The same day, the Chavez government angrily rejected criticism of Venezuela in the State Department's annual global human-rights report, with the country's vice¹⁴ president, Vicente Rangel, calling the document "toilet paper".

1 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

2 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

3 feud   

n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇

参考例句：

• How did he start his feud with his neighbor?他是怎样和邻居开始争吵起来的？
• The two tribes were long at feud with each other.这两个部族长期不和。

4 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

5 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

9 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

10 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

11 courteous   

adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的

参考例句：

• Although she often disagreed with me,she was always courteous.尽管她常常和我意见不一，但她总是很谦恭有礼。
• He was a kind and courteous man.他为人友善，而且彬彬有礼。

12 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

13 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

14 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。