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 authoritarian 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 raucous banner-waving marches, a silent demonstration 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, the murder rate is probably the world's highest and democracy has been extinguished.
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，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 chaos engulfs Venezuela's cities, his social-media team has been seeking to humanise the dictator with video vignettes that emphasise 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 innocence of childhood as he perches 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 panorama of an apparently tranquil Caracas from the safety of a cable-car gondola.
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 glumly 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 arsenal 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。
Its main weapon was, and remains, state control of television, which repeats endlessly the risible claim that Venezuela is a victim of an economic war.
在查韦斯时代，他们主要的宣传武器是电视，现在仍是电视，即由国家控制电视，通过电视不断的发表关于委内瑞拉是经济战的受害者的声明。
Broadcasts by the president can last as long as a double-feature.
总统录制的广播节目几乎等于两部电影的时长了。
Lacking Chavez's charisma, Mr Maduro hopes to come across as cuddly in his up-close-and-personal videos (and a salsa show on radio).
没有了查韦斯那样的感召力，Maduro 先生希望通过他录制的近距离小视频可以给人们留下好印象。
Venezuelans are not beguiled.
委内瑞拉人民并没有被总统的视频所欺骗。
The films show a falta de respeto (lack of respect), many say.
很多人说，这些视频的内容没有展示出对人民的尊重。
“I think he actually enjoys laughing at us,” says Daniel Torres, an engineering student.
一个工程系的学生Daniel Torres说：“我觉得他以嘲笑我们为乐趣。”
Venezuelans are especially annoyed by a video of the president, resplendent in a white tracksuit, playing catch with Diosdado Cabello, the thuggish former president of the national assembly.
委内瑞拉人民尤其很讨厌其中的一个视频，在视频中，总统身着高档白色运动服和Diosdado Cabello(残暴的前国民大会议长)玩棒球。
“A democratic game, a constitutional game,” sniggers Mr Cabello.
Diosdado Cabello暗笑道，“棒球是大众的游戏，保健的游戏”。
He helped plan many of the government's assaults on democracy, including a botched attempt in March to transfer the powers of the legislature, now controlled by the opposition, to the supreme court, which takes orders from the government.
Diosdado Cabello帮助计划了许多次对政府民主制度的攻击，包括在三月试图转移立法机关权利的一次失败尝试，听命于政府的最高法院现在被反对党控制了。
“We are working,” promises Mr Maduro, as he tosses the ball back to his partner in misrule.
Maduro先生边把球投向他施行暴政的伙伴，一边回应道：“我们正在玩就是即大众又保健的游戏。”
For Alberto Barrera Tyszka, an essayist, the video shows the “decadence” of chavismo.
评论家Alberto Barrera Tyszka认为这个视频表明了查尔斯主义的衰落。
The images of frolicking well-fed politicians are an insult to the “poverty of Venezuelans”, most of whom have lost weight over the past two years, he has written.
肚满肥肠的政客们嬉戏的形象是在侮辱委内瑞拉的贫穷，他还写道，他们中的大多数人在过去的两年里还减重了。
One of Mr Maduro's clips shows him driving through a poor neighbourhood of Caracas to show off the apparent cheerfulness of the locals.
Maduro上传的其中一个视频是他开车通过加拉加斯的贫民区，去向当地人炫耀喜悦之情。
A wall scrawled with the words, “Maduro, murderer of students”, is clearly visible as he drives past, but not to the oblivious president.
而在他驶过的道路两旁墙上却有几个清晰的大字“Maduro是谋杀学生的犯人”，Maduro总统却视而不见。
Chavistas used to be good at propaganda.
Chavistas总统曾经十分擅长政治宣传。
Now they cannot even get that right.
但现在的这些领导人却做不到。
重点词组：
1.domestic demand 国内需求
例句:Because of the slump in domestic demand, production has stopped.
由于国内需求大幅下降，生产已经停止。
2.be linked to 与...有关
例句:All of these industries have at one time or another been linked to cancer.
所有这些产业都曾在不同时期与癌症有过联系。
3.a quarter of 四分之一的
例句:He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.
他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。
4.left over 剩余;留下
例句:Sunscreen can lose its potency if left over winter in the bathroom cabinet.
如果把防晒霜在盥洗室的壁橱里放一个冬天，就有可能失效。
5.come across 偶遇;无意中发现
例句:I came across a group of children playing.
我碰到一群正在玩耍的小孩。
6.be good at 擅长
例句:He was never good at communicating with the players.
他不善于和队员们进行沟通。
7.show off 炫耀;卖弄
例句:Naomi was showing off her engagement ring.
娜奥米正在炫耀她的订婚戒指。
8.the supreme court 最高法院
例句:He clerked for the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
他为最高法院的大法官做书记员。
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