VOA常速英语2007年-Despite Challenges Venezuela's Chavez Moves Ahe

By Brian Wagner
Miami
18 December 2007

In 2007, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez opened new fronts in his efforts to transform the oil-producing nation into a socialist¹ state. The former paratrooper failed to win approval for constitutional reforms that included ending term limits on the presidency². But he succeeded in taking greater control over Venezuela's oil sector³ and television media, despite criticism from the United States and foreign groups. VOA's Brian Wagner has this report on the past year in Venezuela.

Soaring oil prices in 2007 generated windfalls for Venezuela, like most oil-producing nations. President Chavez has used booming government revenues to finance a host of social programs in Venezuela, and he has pursued aid projects and international alliances in the region and with Iran.

To ensure future revenues, Mr. Chavez ordered all foreign oil companies operating in the South American nation to negotiate new contracts that give the government more control over their businesses. The move stirred fears of an aggressive nationalization drive and prompted two foreign companies, Conoco Philips and Exxon, to abandon their operations in the country.

Energy analysts⁵ say the re-negotiations will force Venezuela to make costly⁶ pay outs to assume majority shares in the private companies.

Analyst⁴ David Pumphrey, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, says it also drove away crucial international expertise⁷ that Venezuela may need as it develops new oil fields in coming years.

"It is a little bit early to know exactly what that is going to mean," he said. "It did mean that two U.S. companies could not accept the terms and have walked away from the projects they made there and are negotiating on their exit."

In May, Venezuela's government faced harsh criticism from foreign leaders and human rights groups about the decision to end the broadcasting license⁸ of the nation's largest private television station. President Chavez accused Radio Caracas Television of backing a failed coup⁹ against him in 2002 and ordered a new state-run channel to take its place.

U.S. officials and other groups expressed concern the move would harm press freedom in Venezuela. Carlos Lauria of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said the group believes the decision against RCTV was made for political reasons.

 

"It is clearly discriminatory against the station that is critical, very critical, of the government [and] has opposition¹⁰ views," he said.

Opinion polls show most Venezuelans disagreed with the decision against RCTV, which aired several highly popular soap operas. But, general support for Mr. Chavez remained strong, especially among the nation's poor majority who have benefited from health, education and other social initiatives launched by the president.

A research fellow at Britain's University of Bradford, Julia Buxton, says the government has nurtured¹¹ that political support.

"As this revolutionary process has become more radical¹², the core support base has become the poor people, those people living in the barrios [poor neighborhoods]," she said. "And the government has deliberately¹³ targeted its social policy agenda and its policy platform on consolidating¹⁴ the support of those people."

President Chavez put that support to the test in December when the government called a referendum on constitutional reforms that he said would advance the nation's progress toward socialism. The measures included plans to end term limits on the presidency, lower the voting age to 16, and create new forms of community-owned property.

Opposition groups denounced the reform plan as a power-grab, and some university students led marches to oppose the proposals.

Voters rejected the reforms in a narrow vote, which was the first election defeat for Mr. Chavez since he took office in 1999. The president said the nation was not ready for the socialist reforms, but he vowed¹⁵ to pursue them again in the future. Mr. Chavez said the government failed to show voters how the reforms are a step on the nation's path to socialism.

A political scientist at Metropolitan¹⁶ University in Caracas, Anibal Romero, said the vote may mark a political shift. He says the vote was a rejection¹⁷ of Chavez's anti-democratic style and his authoritarian¹⁸ reform proposals. He said the president should take it as a lesson.

Election data shows that turnout was low in many traditionally pro-government communities, partly due to the complex nature of the reform. Analysts say the vote also reflected the people's frustration¹⁹ about ongoing²⁰ problems, such as high inflation, security concerns and food shortages.

Julia Buxton says the government may have lost its focus on crucial domestic priorities.

"I think what the government needs to focus on now is providing better, targeted support to that core sector of the electorate²¹, the poor, those people who really are at the bottom of the Venezuelan social ladder," she said. "If you are going to help those peoplehave to help them properly."

Oil prices will likely remain high in 2008, allowing Venezuela's government to continue its social spending programs at home and abroad. Analysts say President Chavez and other top officials will need to spend wisely in the coming year to ensure their political support remains²² strong.

1 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

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 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

7 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

12 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

13 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

14 consolidating   

v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并

参考例句：

• These measures are meant for consolidating the system of basic medical care. 这些举措旨在夯实基层医疗体系，让老百姓看大病不必出远门。 来自互联网
• We are consolidating the Chinese and English versions of our homepage. 我们将为您提供中英文版本一起的主页。 来自互联网

15 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。

16 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

17 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

18 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

19 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

20 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

21 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

22 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。