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Topic: As Economy Lags, Hugo Chavez's Movement Fades in Venezuela

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/

Next Article

Topic: About Crime - Come to Rio, get robbed: Brazil tourism body shares awkward Instagram post

Brazil’s national tourism agency typically focuses on the city’s world-class beaches, samba-filled music scene and caipirinha-fueled parties. Violent crime is rarely listed among the attractions.
行銷里約熱內盧時，巴西國家觀光機構通常主打該市的世界級海灘、洋溢森巴音樂的地方，以及有卡琵莉亞酒催情的派對。暴力犯罪鮮少被列入魅力特點。

But in an embarrassing social media snafu this week, the Brazilian Tourist Board (Embratur) accidentally shared a critical Instagram post from a tourist who did not enjoy her stay in the so-called "Cidade Maravilhosa," or Marvelous City.
但本週一起令人尷尬的社群媒體烏龍事件中，巴西旅遊局意外地分享了一名不愛待在這個所謂「奇蹟之城」的旅客於Instagram的批評貼文。

"I just spent 3 days in Rio with my family, and in those 3 days my family and I were robbed and my 9-year-old sister witnessed a violent robbery," Instagram user "withlai" wrote in an Instagram Stories post. "I can’t recommend a visit to a city where I felt afraid of even leaving the apartment."
Instagram用戶「withlai」的一則限時動態貼文寫道，「我和我的家人只花了3天在里約，而那3天當中，家人和我都被搶，我的9歲妹妹還親眼目睹了一件暴力搶案。」「我無法推薦拜訪一個我連離開公寓都會怕的城市。」

Embratur deleted the shared post on Wednesday. It said in a subsequent statement that "sharing (the post) was a mistake," adding that it had worked hard to promote a nationwide fall in crime in 2019.
巴西旅遊局週三刪了這則分享貼文。它在隨後聲明中說道，「分享（那則貼文）是個錯誤」，並補充指出，已努力宣傳全國2019年犯罪減少一事。

Safety concerns along with inconvenient flights, poor infrastructure and high costs have long held back Brazil’s tourism industry, which lags its South American neighbors.
除了航班不便、基礎設施貧乏及費用高昂，安全考量令巴西觀光產業長久以來遲滯不前，落後於南美鄰國。
Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1358564

Next Article

Topic: Ecuadorean discovery pushes back origins of chocolate

People have been enjoying chocolate far longer than previously known, according to research published on Monday detailing the domestication and use of cacao beginning 5,300 years ago at an ancient settlement in the highlands of southeastern Ecuador. Scientists examined ceramic artifacts at the Santa Ana-La Florida archeological site, a remarkably preserved village and ceremonial center that was part of the Mayo-Chinchipe culture of the Andes, and found abundant evidence of the use of cacao, from which chocolate is made.
根據週一發表的一份研究顯示，人類享用巧克力的歷史比先前所知的還要悠久。該研究詳細指出，在厄瓜多東南部高地的一處古老聚落，發現五千三百年前已開始出現可可豆的人工培植和食用跡象。在聖塔安娜─佛羅里達考古遺址──當地保存著狀況絕佳的村落遺跡，曾作為儀式中心，屬於安地斯山脈「馬由─欽奇佩」文化圈的一部分──科學家仔細檢驗出土的陶瓷工藝品，並發現充分證據顯示使用可可豆，也就是製作巧克力的原料。

The study indicates cacao was domesticated roughly 1,500 years earlier than previously known, and that it occurred in South America rather than in Central America, as previously thought. A tropical evergreen tree called Theobroma cacao bears large, oval pods containing the bean-like cacao seeds that today are roasted and turned into cocoa and multitudes of chocolate confections, although chocolate at the time was consumed as a beverage.
研究指出，人工培植可可豆的時間點比先前所知還要再往前推大約一千五百年，並且始於南美洲，而非之前認為的中美洲。可可樹是一種熱帶常青樹，會結出大而橢圓形的豆莢，包覆著像豆子般的可可種子。今日，可可種子會在烘培後被做成可可粉和各式各樣的巧克力糕點，不過巧克力在當時其實是被用來作成飲料喝下肚。

The scientists found evidence of cacao’s use at the site over a period starting 5,300 years ago — more than 700 years before building of the Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt — until 2,100 years ago. They found cacao starch grains in ceramic vessels and pottery shards. They also detected residue of a bitter compound found in the cacao tree but not its wild relatives, evidence that the tree was grown by people for food purposes, as well as DNA fragments from the cacao tree.
科學家在該遺址發現使用可可豆的證據，當地的人類活動始於五千三百年前──比古埃及建造吉薩大金字塔的時間還要早了七百多年──到兩千一百年前。在陶瓷容器和陶器碎片中，科學家找到可可豆的澱粉粒，還偵測到只會在可可樹中發現，卻不存在於野生近親樹種中的一種苦澀化合物殘餘，這是人類為食用目的而種植可可樹的證據，同時也發現可可樹的DNA片段。

“They clearly drank it as a beverage, as shown by its presence in stirrup-spout pots and bowls,” said University of British Columbia anthropologist and archaeologist Michael Blake, who helped lead the study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. “The presence of cacao starch grains likely means that they ground the seeds to make the beverages, and so probably, though we aren’t certain, fermented the seeds as well, before grinding them,” Blake added.
英屬哥倫比亞大學的人類學暨考古學家麥可‧布雷克指出：「可可豆出現在蹬型壺嘴陶罐和碗裡，證明當地人明顯是把可可豆作成飲料來喝。」布雷克協助主導這份發表於《自然─生態學與演化》期刊的研究，他補充說：「可可豆澱粉粒的存在，表示當地人會把可可豆磨碎來做成飲料，所以，雖然我們還不能確定，他們或許也會在磨碎可可豆前先進行發酵。」

Archeological evidence indicates cacao domestication moved into Central America and Mexico about 4,000 years ago. Before European conquerors arrived in the Americas five centuries ago, great civilizations like the Aztecs and Maya prepared chocolate as a drink, mixed with various spices or other ingredients. “The freshly picked ripe cacao pods have a delicious sweet pulp around them, and mixed together it all has a very mild chocolate taste,” Blake said. “The chocolate confections today contain a great deal of sugar, and this is very different from the indigenous uses of cacao reported in the historical records from the 1500s and 1600s.”
考古證據顯示，可可豆的人工培植技術大概在四千年前傳入中美洲和墨西哥。五個世紀前，當歐洲的征服者們抵達美洲時，諸如阿茲特克和馬雅等偉大文明皆會把巧克力調製成飲料，裡面加入各種香料和其他成分。布雷克表示：「剛摘下來的新鮮可可豆莢裡面含有美味而香甜的果肉，如果把它跟可可豆混在一起，就會產生一種非常溫潤的巧克力口感。」這名學者也說：「今日的巧克力糕點加入大量的糖分，這跟十六世紀和十七世紀留下來的歷史紀錄中，對於當地可可豆使用方法的描述是大相逕庭的。」
Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2018/11/04/2003703549

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