VOA常速英语2017--委内瑞拉选民反对总统修宪

On July 16th, nearly 7.2 million Venezuelans voted in an unofficial plebiscite to reject President Nicolas Maduro's plan to create a new, 545-member Constituent 1 Assembly that would have the power to rewrite Venezuela's constitution – a further step in endangering democracy in that country. This new body would also be capable of dissolving state institutions, including the Supreme 2 Court and the National Assembly, in which the nation's voters elected opposition 3 parties to an overwhelming majority.

7月16日，近720万委内瑞拉人以非正式平民表决的方式进行投票，反对总统马杜罗(Nicolas Maduro)的计划，该计划意图创建一个545名成员组成的新国民代表大会。该国民代表大会将有权利改写委内瑞拉宪法——会进一步威胁委内瑞拉的民主。这个新成立的机构也将让其他一些国家机构解体——包括最高法院和国民大会，而这些国家机构中选民选举出的反对党占绝大多数。

Over 98 percent of voters rejected the formation of the proposed Constituent Assembly. They also called on the military to defend the existing constitution, and demanded early elections which would take place prior to the 2019 end of President Maduro's term in office.

超过98%的选民反对成立所谓的国民代表大会。他们还呼吁军方捍卫既有的宪法，要求提早进行选举，在2019年末马杜罗任期结束前进行选举。

Despite the widespread popular rejection 4 of its plans, the Maduro government refused to cancel the July 30 vote to elect the Constituent Assembly. It claims this new assembly will solve Venezuela's problems, even though it would change none of the underlying 5 social, economic, and political issues driving the increasing hunger and desperation in the country. The atmosphere was tense. At least three people died, and more were injured, when shots were fired into the crowd at two different referendum polling stations.

顶着群众广为反对的声音，马杜罗政府拒绝取消7月30日选举成立国民代表大会的结果。马杜罗政府声称，新的国民代表大会将解决委内瑞拉的诸多问题，虽然并不会有助于解决任何根本性的社会、经济、政治问题，而这些问题让委内瑞拉饥饿与绝望的问题越发严重。形势十分紧张。至少有三人死亡，多人受伤，两处全民投票站的人群经历了枪击事件。

President Donald Trump 6 chose to side with the Venezuelan people, the United States will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles 7, and warned that Venezuela would be subject to swift and strong economic actions, should President Maduro go through with creating a constituent assembly.

特朗普总统选择站在委内瑞拉人民这边，美国不会在委内瑞拉遭遇困难的时候袖手旁观。特朗普也发出警示，委内瑞拉不应屈服于迅速强劲的经济行动，即便马杜罗总统真的要创建国民代表大会。

The United States applauds the courage and determination of Venezuelans who exercised their rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly in defense 8 of their democracy on July 16. The vote was a massive repudiation 9 of the proposed National Constituent Assembly, which would undermine Venezuela's democratic institutions. The vote by millions of Venezuelans was an unequivocal affirmation in support of free and fair elections as well as respect for the existing constitution, said State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert.

美国赞赏委内瑞拉人民的勇气和决心，7月16日那天，他们行使了自己的权利，包括自由言论权、结社权、和平集会权，以捍卫民主。这次投票断然摒弃了所谓的国民代表大会，因为后者会破坏委内瑞拉的民主体制。成千上万委内瑞拉人的投票明确表达了他们对自由公正选举的支持，以及他们对当前宪法的尊重，美国国务院发言人国民代表大会如是说道。

Millions of Venezuelans' voices must not be ignored. The United States calls on the Government of Venezuela to abandon the proposed National Constituent Assembly. We encourage governments in the hemisphere and around the world to call on President Maduro to suspend this process which only seeks to undermine democracy in Venezuela.

无数委内瑞拉人的声音不应受到忽视。美国呼吁委内瑞拉政府摒弃所谓的国民代表大会。我们鼓励北半球乃至全球政府一同呼吁马杜罗总统悬崖勒马，因为再继续下去，只会破坏委内瑞拉的民主。