Latin America Is Facing a ‘Decline of Democracy’ Under the Pandemic
疫情之下 拉丁美洲民主倒退
Postponed elections. Sidelined courts. A persecuted opposition.
選舉延期。法院晾在一邊。反對黨遭受迫害。
As the coronavirus pandemic tears through Latin America and the Caribbean, killing more than 200,000 and destroying the livelihoods of tens of millions in the region, it is also undermining democratic norms that were already under strain.
新冠病毒疫情橫掃拉丁美洲和加勒比海地區，奪走逾20萬條人命，摧毀數千萬人生計，同時也正在破壞原已備受擠壓的民主常規。
Leaders ranging from the center-right to the far-left have used the crisis as justification to extend their time in office, weaken oversight of government actions and silence critics — actions that under different circumstances would be described as authoritarian and anti-democratic but are now being billed as lifesaving measures to curb the spread of the disease.
立場從中間偏右到極左的多國領袖皆以疫情危機為正當理由，延長自己在位的時間，削弱外界對政府行為的監督，並且讓批評者噤聲。換在不同的環境下，這些作為會被描述為極權與反民主，現在卻被美化成抑制疾病傳播的救命措施。
The gradual undermining of democratic rules during an economic crisis and a public health catastrophe could leave Latin America primed for slower growth and an increase in corruption and human rights abuses, experts warned. This is particularly true in places where political rights and accountability were already in steep decline.
專家警告，在經濟危機和衛生災難期間，漸進式破壞民主規則可能使拉丁美洲成長趨緩，貪腐和侵犯人權的情況惡化。在政治權利和問責制度原已急遽下滑的地方，更是如此。
“It’s not a matter of left or right; it’s a general decline of democracy across the region,” said Alessandra Pinna, a Latin America researcher at Freedom House, an independent Washington-based research organization that measures global political liberties.
「這不是左派或右派的問題，這是區域民主普遍衰退的問題。」評量全球政治自由程度的華府獨立研究組織「自由之家」的拉丁美洲研究員亞歷珊德拉．品納說。
There are now five Latin American and Caribbean nations with recent democratic histories — Venezuela, Nicaragua, Guyana, Bolivia and Haiti — where governments weren’t chosen in free and fair elections or have overstayed their time in office. That is the highest number since the late 1980s, when the Cold War receded and several countries in the grip of civil war or military dictatorships transitioned to peace and democracy.
目前有五國拉美和加勒比海新進民主國家，政府未經由自由公平選舉選出，或是政府在任已經逾越法定期限，分別是委內瑞拉、尼加拉瓜、蓋亞那、玻利維亞和海地。這是自1980年代晚期以來最高的數字，當時冷戰消退，數個曾受制於內戰或軍人獨裁的國家過渡到和平與民主。
Most of those leaders were already bending the rules of democracy to stay in power before the pandemic but seized on emergency conditions created by the spread of the virus to strengthen their position.
在疫情之前，這些領導人中大多數已經扭曲民主規則以便繼續掌權，當下更抓住因為病毒傳播而造成的緊急狀況，趁機強化自己的地位。
President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela has detained or conducted home raids against dozens of journalists, social activists and opposition leaders for questioning the government’s dubious coronavirus figures.
委內瑞拉總統尼可拉斯．馬杜洛拘留數十名記者、社會運動人士和反對派領袖或突擊他們的住所，因為他們質疑政府不可靠的新冠肺炎數字。
In Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega released thousands of inmates because of the threat posed by the virus but kept political prisoners behind bars, while in Guyana, a lockdown thwarted protests against the government’s attempt to stay in power despite having lost an election.
在尼加拉瓜，總統丹尼爾．奧蒂嘉因病毒威脅而釋放數千名囚犯，但是仍關押政治犯。在蓋亞那，封城防疫阻撓了反對政府輸掉選舉卻仍試圖留任的抗議活動。
In Bolivia, a caretaker government has used the pandemic to postpone elections, tap into emergency aid to bolster its electoral campaign and threaten to ban the main opposition candidate from running.
在玻利維亞，看守政府以防疫為名延後選舉，利用急難援助資源拉抬其競選活動聲勢，並且威脅要禁止主要反對派候選人參選。
And in the island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, the government imposed a strict lockdown on its 50,000 people during the campaign for general elections in June, hampering opposition efforts to meet voters while also keeping international election observers from traveling to the country.
在島國聖克里斯多福及尼維斯今年6月全國大選期間，政府對5萬居民實施嚴格的封城，阻礙反對派接觸選民，同時也不讓國際選舉觀察員前往該國。
文／Anatoly Kurmanaev 譯／莊蕙嘉 核稿／樂慧生
說文解字看新聞
【莊蕙嘉】
新冠肺炎疫情不只影響各國經濟，也讓拉丁美洲政局動盪。政治手段何其多，本質不外乎拉抬自己與打壓對手，本文就有多個與後者相關的字。
Undermine可拆成字首under和字根mine，under是「在...之下」，mine為「開採、挖掘」，合起來有暗中挖掘之意，引申為破壞，特別指「暗中、逐漸」的方式與過程。
thwart意為「妨礙」，即prevent someone from doing or getting something，防止對方達到目的。此字作為形容詞則為「橫放的」，例如橫倒在路中央的樹木，也有很礙事、不順利的感覺。
hamper也有妨礙之意，但比較像是make it difficult for someone while doing something，在過程中搞破壞。同義字有hinder及impede。
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August 12, 2020 at 02:11PM
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紐時賞析／疫情之下貪腐侵犯人權情況惡化 拉丁美洲民主倒退 - UDN 聯合新聞網
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