美国国家公共电台 NPR--Critics of Mexico's new electoral law changes say democracy is under attack

Critics of Mexico's new electoral law changes say democracy is under attack

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Leila Miller², a reporter for the Los Angles Times, about Mexico's new election law changes that critics say severely³ undermine the country's democracy.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Thousands of people marched in Mexico City over the weekend to protest a decision that would overhaul⁴ the country's independent body that oversees⁵ elections.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Protesters say the decision to reduce the National Electoral Institute's staff and independence is a threat to the country's democracy and could return Mexico to the days of one-party rule. Mexico's president says the reforms are about cutting costs.

FADEL: Leila Miller is a correspondent for the LA Times, and she joins me from Mexico City. Good morning, Leila.

LEILA MILLER: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

FADEL: So let's talk about these reforms, if you could just lay out what they do and what people are worried about.

MILLER: Sure. These are reforms that were passed last week that would dramatically reduce the size of Mexico's Electoral Institute and would also remove a lot of autonomy that it has. It gets rid of, you know, what - the officials from the Electoral Institute say that thousands of jobs, the people that organize elections on the ground across the country would be removed. And what it also does is it removes the power that the institute has to discipline candidates if they violate campaign finance laws. People are basically worried about - is that the Electoral Institute won't have the manpower to organize elections and that this is essentially⁶ a threat to Mexico's democracy.

FADEL: What has the president, the government, said about why they're doing this?

MILLER: So the president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has said the electoral agency needs budget cuts. He's been, you know, pushing austerity measures across the board, across his government. He's tried to discredit⁷ the people that are protesting by, you know, saying that these are people that have, you know, somehow benefited from corruption⁹ in the past and want to have a system in place that will benefit them that way. You know, there were thousands and thousands of people that were protesting this reform over the weekend. He's even tried to connect the protesters to Genaro Garcia Luna, the former top Mexican law official that was recently convicted of taking bribes¹⁰ from drug traffickers in New York.

FADEL: Just to clarify, he's trying to connect them to undermine the protests, saying that they're not legit protests?

MILLER: Exactly. He's saying that the protesters really don't care about democracy. This is not what this is about. He's saying that the protesters want to keep a corrupt⁸ system in place.

FADEL: And what concerns might the U.S. have about these changes - these election changes in Mexico?

MILLER: U.S. officials have spoken out about the reform. They've been saying that the president is trying to sabotage¹¹ democratic institutions. You know, there's a worry that changes like this could return Mexico back to the days when it was under a one-party system, when the same party was in power for decades because of corruption and because there wasn't a strong electoral institute.

FADEL: Leila Miller is with the LA Times, and she's based in Mexico City. Thank you so much for your time.

MILLER: Thanks for having me.

1 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。

2 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

3 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

4 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

5 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

8 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

9 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。

10 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

11 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。