VOA标准英语2010年-Mexico Making Progress in War on Drug

Mexico Drug Cartel Chief Killed On December 16, Mexican marines stormed a luxury apartment in Cuernavaca, near Mexico City, and killed Arturo Beltran Leyva, head of one of the country's largest drug trafficking organizations. A couple of weeks later, authorities arrested his brother, Carlos, further disrupting the command structure of the criminal enterprise. These were portrayed² as important victories for Mexican President Felipe Calderon, whose war on drug gangs has been blamed for a wave of violence across the country in the past few years. US officials are applauding Calderon's efforts and trying to offer him as much support as they can.

The war against narcotics³-trafficking cartels in Mexico is being watched closely by federal law enforcement officials here in the United States. The Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA, is spearheading a multi-agency US effort at its field office in Houston.

Gary Hale, chief of intelligence at the Houston office, says sharing resources and information with the Mexican government has helped President Calderon to disrupt the criminal organizations' operations on the border. "To be realistic, we will never get rid of drug trafficking, per se, but we can have an effect on the overall business and the best effect that we have determined⁴ we can have is to disrupt and dismantle⁵. And how do you do that? You go after command and control, you go after the leadership," he said.

Since President Calderon began his crusade against organized crime in Mexico in December, 2006, thousands of people have died in bloody⁶ confrontations⁷ between rival gangs and between cartel gunmen and police and military troops. 

One indication of the brutality⁸ of the gangs came a week after the recent raid that resulted in the death of Arturo Beltran Leyva, the man known as the boss of bosses in Mexico's criminal underground. Gunmen killed the mother and several relatives of a marine¹ killed during the raid, sending a message of fear to other marines, soldiers and police agents who are battling the cartels.

Gary Hale says Mexican authorities realize that the cartels are taking over large parts of Mexico and threatening the nation's sovereignty and that this motivates the soldiers and police agents to carry on the fight. "They are not doing it because they are forced to do it, they are not doing it because they make a lot of money, they're doing it because they are patriots⁹. They are doing it because they love their country and they are doing the right thing," he said.

The DEA intelligence chief says the Mexican government efforts are making a difference, especially in reducing the amount of cocaine¹⁰ and other narcotics from South America that makes it over the US border. "The same amount of drugs are reaching Mexico, but they are having a difficult time, because of Calderon's policies, moving those drugs through Mexico and into the United States," he said.

Hale says much of the progress comes from the close working relationship US authorities have been able to establish with their Mexican counterparts. "We have tremendous intelligence sharing with them, they have good intelligence capabilities¹¹ and so do we. We exchange intelligence with them quite frequently. There are occasional links of information or compromises, but, as a trend, they are doing an outstanding job of being partners with DEA and other federal law enforcement agencies of the United States," he said.

As for what happens next, now that the Beltran Leyva cartel has been hit hard, Hale says that remains¹² an open question. "On the one hand, the remaining organizations may make peace and carve out territory. On the other hand, the various factions¹³ that were fighting before could escalate¹⁴ the violence that they have had between them," he said.

The prospect¹⁵ of even more violence between warring drug cartels is not pleasing to Mexicans in border cities that already resemble war zones, but most of the people being killed are involved in the drug trade. What will be crucial, in Gary Hale's view, is a sustained effort by both Mexico and the United States, working in cooperation, to further disrupt and cripple the criminal enterprises that threaten the security of both nations.

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 narcotics   

n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒

参考例句：

• The use of narcotics by teenagers is a problem in many countries. 青少年服用麻醉药在许多国家中都是一个问题。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Police shook down the club, looking for narcotics. 警方彻底搜查了这个俱乐部，寻找麻醉品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

6 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

7 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

8 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

9 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

10 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。

11 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

12 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。

13 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

14 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

15 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。