债务违约可能会加剧委内瑞拉的危机

Stopping Debt Payments Could Worsen Venezuela's Crisis

Venezuela is struggling to pay back an estimated $150 billion in debt.

委内瑞拉正在竭力偿还大约1500亿美元的债务。

The country’s financial crisis only makes life worse for people like Luber Faneitte.

该国的金融危机只会让Luber Faneitte这样的人生活愈发艰难。

Faneitte lives in a run-down building in downtown Caracas. She receives disability payments from her job and survives on less than $9 each month.

Faneitte住在加拉加斯市中心的一栋破败的房子里。她领着因公伤残补贴，每个月只有不到9美元的生活费。

Faneitte lives with a daughter and four grandchildren. They all depend on her small income. She struggles to have enough food to eat and to pay her bills. She depends on food the government sells once a month at reduced prices.

Faneitte跟她的女儿以及四个外孙一起生活，她们都依靠Faneitte的微薄收入过活。Faneitte努力弄到足够的食物并支付账单，她依靠政府每月低价出售一次的粮食生活。

Health problems add to her worries. Faneitte has lung cancer. Doctors say she needs chemotherapy to treat her cancer. But Faneitte stopped chemotherapy in January because of the severe shortage of medicine.

健康问题增加了她的担忧。Faneitte患有肺癌。医生说她必须化疗来治疗她的癌症。但是由于药品严重短缺，Faneitte在一月份停止了化疗。

Instead, she prepares a homemade mixture of liqueur, honey and aloe vera.

相反，她准备了自制的利口酒、蜂蜜和芦荟的混合物。

“I leave it outside for two days, then I take a spoonful in the morning and another at night. I think I breathe much better when I take it,” she said.

她说：“我把它们在外面放置两天，然后早晚各吃一勺。我认为服用时我的呼吸顺畅多了。”

The poor in the South American nation are especially suffering because of the economy. The International Monetary 1 Fund predicts that inflation will reach 2,300 percent in 2018.

由于经济危机，这个南美国家的穷人过得尤为艰难。国际货币基金组织预计，到2018年委内瑞拉的通货膨胀率将会达到2300%。

A member of the Organization of Petroleum 2 Exporting Countries, or OPEC, Venezuela depends on oil for almost all of its export income.

作为石油输出国组织（欧佩克，OPEC）成员国，委内瑞拉几乎所有出口收入都依靠石油。

But oil prices remain low. That means Venezuela has less money to import many goods that it needs. The decrease in imports has worsened the seemingly endless shortages of basic supplies such as soap and toilet paper.

但是油价仍然很低迷。这意味着委内瑞拉没有足够资金进口所需的许多商品。进口减少使得肥皂和卫生纸这类基本生活用品看似无休止的短缺更加恶化。

The idea of Venezuela ending its debt payments is seen as a possible short-term political gain for the country’s largely unpopular President Nicolas Maduro. He is expected to seek re-election in 2018.

委内瑞拉停止偿付债务的想法被认为是该国很不受欢迎的马杜罗总统一种可能获得的短期政治收益。预计他会在2018年寻求连任。

If Maduro stops debt payments, or declares default, the money could be used to buy imports and do election campaigning. It would also decrease the risk of street protests.

如果马杜罗停止偿付债务，或是宣布违约，这些资金就可以用于进口商品和进行竞选活动，这也会减少街头示威的风险。

But experts say the long-term effect of defaulting would be extremely bad. Alejandro Grisanti is with the group Ecoanalitica which provides business advice. He says Venezuela would face legal action from its creditors 3. It would also have its property held in foreign countries seized as a result.

但是专家表示，违约的长期影响会非常糟糕。亚历杭德罗·格里桑蒂（Alejandro Grisanti）就职于Ecoanalitica，这是一家提供商业建议的组织。他说，委内瑞拉将会面临债权人的法律诉讼，也会导致委内瑞拉在国外的资产被扣押。

Maduro has said he wants to refinance and restructure Venezuela's debt. But the idea of default is a looming 4 concern for people who could be affected 5.

马杜罗已经表示，他希望对委内瑞拉的债务进行再融资和重组。但是违约的想法对可能受影响者来说是一个迫在眉睫的问题。

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in this Story

run-down – adj. being in poor repair

chemotherapy – n. the use of chemicals to treat or control a disease such as cancer

liqueur – n. a sweet, strong alcoholic 6 drink that is usually flavored with fruits or spices and drunk in small glasses after a meal

default – n. a failure to make a payment, such as a payment on a loan

looming – adj. something close to happening, used especially of unpleasant or frightening things