介绍:
Barack Obama visits Cuba 奥巴马访问古巴
Cubama 古巴马
The United States and Latin America can profitably draw closer, but only if the next president agrees
CAUTION has been a watchword in the foreign policy of Barack Obama. But in one part of the world he has been adventurous. For any of the nine preceding American presidents, his planned visit to the Cuba of Raúl and Fidel Castro, on March 21st and 22nd, would have been unthinkable (see article). It crowns a bold gambit in which Mr Obama has restored diplomatic relations, frozen for 54 years, and begun to loosen the economic embargo against the island. He is betting that engagement with one of America’s neighbours will do more than isolation to bring its Communist regime to an end.
1 watchword 口号;格言 2 precede |prɪˈsi:d| 在…之前发生（或出现）；先于 2 crown （尤指通过增添成就、成功等）使圆满，使完美 3 bold 大胆的；勇敢的；无畏的 4gambit |ˈgæmbɪt|（为取得优势而采取的）行动，精心策划的一着，布局 5 embargo [ɪmˈbɑ:gəʊ] 禁止贸易令；禁运
Moreover, engagement with Cuba will lance a boil that has poisoned relations between the United States and the whole of Latin America. After a period in which China appeared to be displacing America in what some once called its backyard, those links could become increasingly warm and mutually profitable—so long as the next president seizes the opportunity. On the evidence of America’s rancorous election campaign, there is a danger that he or she will not (see article).
1 lance |lɑ:ns | 用刀切开（感染处放脓） 2 boil |bɔɪl| 疖；皮下脓肿；黄水疮 3 rancorous ['ræŋkərəs] adj. 怨恨的，满怀恶意的; 怨恨；名词 rancour |ˈræŋkə(r)| 怨恨；
How to change Cuba 如何改变古巴
Mr Obama’s bet is the right one. The American embargo against Cuba is an exercise in futility. It is a cold-war anachronism that hurt Cubans (and Americans) rather than the Castros, who use it to justify their police state and as an excuse for the penury inflicted on the island by communism.
1 an exercise in futility 徒劳无益 徒然的；futility [fju:'tɪlətɪ] 徒劳的；无效的 2 anachronism |əˈnækrənɪzəm| 过时的人（或风俗、思想），不合时代的事；过时现象
3 police state（尤指通过秘密警察限制人民自由的）警察国家，极权国家 4 penury |ˈpenjəri| 贫困；贫穷 5 inflict |ɪnˈflɪkt| 使遭受打击；使吃苦头 6 communism [ˈkɒmjunɪzəm]
The rapprochement comes as Cuba is changing, albeit at the pace of one of those patched-up 1950s cars that delight tourists to the island. Thanks to reforms Raúl Castro started when he took over as president from his elder brother in 2008, some 1m Cubans (one in five of the workforce) are members of an incipient private sector. Revenue from tourism, some of which goes to small businesses, and remittances from the diaspora are growing, just as aid from Venezuela is diminishing.
1 rapprochement [ˌrɑprɔʃˈmənt] 友好关系的恢复；和解 2 patched-up 修理；（尤指）临时修补 软件补丁 （patch） 3 incipient |ɪnˈsɪpiənt| 刚开始的；初始的；早期的
4 Revenue [ˈrevənju:] 财政收入；税收收入；收益 5 remittance |rɪˈmɪtns| 汇款金额 6 diaspora |daɪˈæspərə| 移民社群 （任何民族的）大移居 7 aid |eɪd| 援助;救助;资助
8 Venezuela [ˌvenə'zweɪlə] . 委内瑞拉（南美洲北部国家）9 diminish |dɪˈmɪnɪʃ| 减少；（使）减弱，缩减；降低
Officially, Mr Castro’s reforms are an “updating of socialism”, not an embrace of capitalism, let alone democracy. Mr Obama’s critics conclude that he has given the Castros a free pass. Yet Cuba was never about to become a democracy overnight. Because the regime remains entrenched, political change is more likely to come gradually and from within. In 2018 Mr Castro intends to stand down as president. His likely successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel, was born after the Castros’ revolution in 1959. Cubans will judge him on his ability to improve their lives, which will require more economic reforms. The hope must be that, as Cuba becomes more prosperous and connected, political liberalisation will follow.
1 critic |ˈkrɪtɪk| 批评家；评论家；评论员 2 free pass 自由通行证;免费入场证 3 overnight: suddenly or quickly 突然；一夜之间；旋即 4 entrenched |ɪnˈtrentʃ| 使处于牢固地位；牢固确立
大家还在听
