每日英語跟讀 Ep.K053: As Economy Lags, Hugo Chavez's Movement Fades in Venezuela 經濟不振 南美政治王朝崩壞

As president, Hugo Chavez lavished millions from this country’s oil boom on his home state of Barinas.

But boom has turned to bust, the economy is in shambles and the love affair is over.

在總統任內，烏戈．查維茲把石油價格大好為國家帶來的收入，以超大手筆花在他的家鄉巴里納斯州。

當油價從大好變成大壞，經濟陷入衰敗，戀愛也結束了。

Similar sentiments are being heard around the continent, where political dynasties are falling or under intense pressure and where protests and social unrest are on the rise.

In Brazil, legislators have begun an impeachment proceeding against President Dilma Rousseff, as scores of other political leaders have become embroiled in a huge corruption scandal.

整個南美洲都能感受到類似的氛圍，政治王朝正在崩解或受到極大壓力，示威抗議和社會動盪方興未艾。

在巴西，國會議員已展開彈劾狄爾瑪．羅塞芙總統的程序，其他幾十位政治領袖也被捲入巨大的貪汙醜聞。

In Ecuador, protesters angry at President Rafael Correa have taken to the streets to demonstrate against budget cutbacks necessitated by vanishing oil revenues.

And in Argentina, President Mauricio Macri was inaugurated last month after surging to a surprising win against the candidate of the Peronist party of his predecessor, Cristina Fernandez. His victory ended 12 years during which Fernandez or her late husband, Nestor Kirchner, occupied the presidential palace.

在厄瓜多，對拉斐爾．柯利亞總統不滿的抗議群眾走上街頭，表達反對因石油營收減少而必須進行的預算削減。

還有在阿根廷，毛里西奧．馬克里聲勢竄起，意外擊敗前總統克莉絲蒂娜．費南德茲所屬裴洛黨的候選人，於上個月宣誓就職。他的勝利終結了費南德茲和她的已故丈夫內斯托．基希納在總統府的十二年歲月。

The strains are being felt most keenly by leftist governments, but analysts say that something other than ideology is at work here. South America saw robust growth in the century’s first decade, thanks to a historic boom in the value of raw materials and other commodities that are sold to the rest of the world.

High prices for oil, natural gas, coal, copper, gold, silver, bauxite, soy beans and other products led to steady growth, a sharp drop in poverty and an expansion of the middle class throughout the region. That growth, in turn, brought political stability, with leaders and parties being repeatedly re-elected.

左派政府感受的壓力最大，但分析家說，這其中有意識型態以外的因素在作用。南美在本世紀第一個十年出現強勁的成長，因為賣到世界其他地區的原物料和其他大宗商品行情空前地好。

石油、天然氣、煤、銅、金、銀、礬土、黃豆和其他產品的高價帶來穩定成長，貧窮大幅下降，整個區域的中產階級擴張。成長接著帶來政治穩定，政治領袖和政黨一再當選連任。

“There’s been a pretty striking continuity in many countries, in large part thanks to the commodities boom that leaders and parties have been riding,” said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialog, a policy analysis group in Washington. “When that’s over, voters look elsewhere and for new leaders, but governing is extremely difficult because they no longer have the resources to meet the high expectations that have been generated during the commodities boom.”

華盛頓的政策分析團體「美洲對話」主席麥可．席福特說：「許多國家有很明顯的持續性，相當程度上歸因於政治領袖和政黨搭上了大宗商品行情好的便車。當榮景結束，選民望向別處，尋找新的領袖，但治國極為困難，因為他們不再握有資源來滿足大宗商品上漲時期激起的高期望。」

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/291818/web/