经济学人:委内瑞拉 政治宣传改头换面(1)

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　　Venezuela: Rotten tomatoes 委内瑞拉：烂番茄

　　Propaganda isn't what it used to be. 政治宣传已经与以往不同。

　　In weeks of almost daily protests, opponents of Venezuela's authoritarian¹ regime have found different ways to express their anger. 委内瑞拉权威主义的反对者们找到了表达愤怒的方法，他们在这几周里几乎每天都上街游行。

　　They have held raucous² banner-waving marches, a silent demonstration³ and a sit-in on Caracas's main roads. 他们在加拉斯加的主干道上举行了沉默的、静坐的游行示威。

　　At least 29 people have died since March in the worst unrest in three years. 在这动荡的三年里至少有29人由于游行而死亡。

　　Many of these were killed by armed gangs that support the government, called colectivos. 其中大多数人是被支持委内瑞拉政府的武装团伙“colectivos”杀害的。

　　The protests persist because the government has made life intolerable: shortages of food and medicine are acute,  由于政府的不作为，使得食物和药品短缺的情况变得非常严重，

　　the murder rate is probably the world's highest and democracy has been extinguished. 犯罪率可能居于世界首位，民主的火苗也熄灭了，这一系列的事情，导致委内瑞拉的抗议游行持续不断。

　　But all is well in the world of Nicolas Maduro, the country's much-loathed president. 但是，在国内令人讨厌的总统Nicolas Maduro却在世界上舞台上一帆风顺。

　　While chaos⁴ engulfs⁵ Venezuela's cities, his social-media team has been seeking to humanise the dictator with video vignettes that emphasise⁶ his homespun origins and simple wisdom. 当委内瑞拉的城市陷入混乱局面时，Nicolas Maduro的社交媒体团队一直在寻求美化其独裁者形象的方法，这个方法就是将那些强调总统出身朴素，拥有的小智慧的视频上传到脸书网上。

　　In one video, posted on his Facebook page, he rhapsodises on the innocence⁷ of childhood as he perches⁸ awkwardly on a playground swing. 有他热情谈论他充满童真的童年，他笨拙的小身体坐在操场的秋千上。

　　In another, he admires a panorama⁹ of an apparently¹⁰ tranquil¹¹ Caracas from the safety of a cable-car gondola¹². 还有，他在缆车上俯瞰外表充满宁静的加拉加斯全景。

　　Sometimes he takes to the wheel of his car with his wife, Cilia Flores, sitting glumly¹³ beside him; this is an occasion to reminisce about his early career as a bus driver. 有时他还会和妻子Cilia Flores一起开车兜风，但Cilia Flores一脸阴郁的坐在他旁边；这是一个缅怀他早年认识的一位公交司机生涯好时机。

　　The social-media stream is an addition to the information arsenal¹⁴ of chavismo, the leftist movement founded by the late Hugo Chavez and carried on with less elan by Mr Maduro. 社交媒体平台是对查韦斯的信息库的补充，这是由已故的Hugo Chavez所创立的左翼运动，并由缺少锐气的Maduro相继进行。

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