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作为美国的邻国，墨西哥的犯罪问题一直非常突出，2022年以来这种现象尤甚，不明失踪的人口急剧上升，毒品泛滥的情况也愈发严重。今天让我们跟随经济学人的报道，一同了解下墨西哥当下的现状。
原文导读 Mexico’s shame
The numbers let alone a peaceful democracy. In May Mexico’s official tally would be shocking in a war-torn dictatorship, of missing people exceeded 100,000. That cumulative total does not include those who have subsequently been found, either alive or dead. Some 52,000 unidentified corpses lie inmorgues across the country. Hardly any cases result in justice for the victims or their families.
The root of the problem is drug prohibition. Narcotics are popular but illegal nearly everywhere. Mexico has a long land border with the United States, the world’s biggest market. Control of smuggling routes generates vast profits, which criminal gangs fight to control. Some seek to intimidate rivals by dumping fresh corpses in the street. But most prefer a more discreet approach. Victims are abducted, murdered and buried in lonely patches of desert. All their families know is that they have a hole in their midst.
The problem is getting worse. Each day 25 people are reported missing, up from one a day in 2006. Some 80% of reported disappearances have occurred since that year. The pace at which Mexicans went missing rose sharply after Felipe Calderón, president from 2006 to 2012, stepped upthe war on drugs by sending the army to fight criminal gangs and kill their leaders. The newly leaderless gangs splintered: the number of criminal groups more than doubled between 2010 and 2020. With more gangs fighting over the same turf, the number of murders soared—and so did the number of unsolved disappearances.
These are a symptom of the impunity enjoyed by Mexico’s criminal underworld, as is the state’s failure to investigate them properly. The victims are mostly poor, and many are gangsters. Voters and officials have long dismissed them as people who chose “the wrong path”, though plenty were witnesses or, increasingly, women who were kidnapped and trafficked. The only people who have doggedly tried to find the disappeared are their mothers. Groups of relatives have clubbed together to interview witnesses, search for mass graves and fill the gap left by an indifferent state. It was only after 43 student teachers vanished in 2014 (and were apparently murdered with the collusion of corrupt officials) that the government set up a national commission to search for missing people and required police to accept reports of disappearances promptly.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s president since 2018, has taken a different approach to the drug war, which has also failed. Under the slogan “hugs not bullets”, he has told the army not to confront drug gangs. In effect, he has left them to get on with their business. The violence has intensified and the pace of disappearances has increased. In May the government passed a law to set up a forensic centre and national dna database to identify bodies of the missing. Mr López Obrador has increased the National Search Commission’s budget, but at $37m a year it is just 1% of what he is spending on a new tourist railway in 2022.
Until the United States legalises drugs, Mexico will always have a gang problem. Yet it could reduce the harm if it did more to end impunity for murder. A good start would be to investigate every disappearance properly. That means hiring more forensic experts, building more laboratories and cleaning out corrupt police forces. By one estimate it could take 35 years just to clear the backlog of unidentified bodies. The time to start is now.
第一段：The numbers let alone a peaceful democracy. In May Mexico’s official tally would be shocking in a war-torn dictatorship, of missing people exceeded 100,000. That cumulative total does not include those who have subsequently been found, either alive or dead. Some 52,000 unidentified corpses lie inmorgues across the country. Hardly any cases result in justice for the victims or their families.
参考译文：这些数字更不用说和平民主了。五月份，墨西哥官方统计的失踪人数超过了10万人，这在一个饱受战争蹂躏的独裁国家令人感到震惊。这一累计总数不包括后来被发现的人，无论是生者还是死者。全国各地的太平间里躺着大约52000具身份不明的尸体。几乎没有任何案件能为受害者或其家人伸张正义。
知识点解读：
1.let alone:更不用说，有“进一步比较”之意，例如，“He hasn't enough money for food, let alone amusements. 他吃饭的钱都不够，更不用说娱乐了。”
2.Democracy：民主，外刊上常用的表达有“liberal democracy 自由民主”和“representative democracy 代议民主”，例句有，“It is a holy work to emblematize and stick up for peace, the respect of life, freedom, democracy, the virtuous harmoniousness and love for ever.人类关于和平、关于尊重生命、关于自由民主、关于贞和、关于爱的憧憬是永恒的。” Democracy的形容词形式为democratic，常用的表达非常多，例如，“democratic party （美）民主党”；“democratic state 民主国家”；“democratic leadership 民主领导”和“democratic government民主政制”等。
与“民主”相对的“独裁专政”在英文中的表达也就是下文的“dictatorship”，例如，“the fascist dictatorship法西斯独裁统治”，其形容词形式为“dictatory”.
3.war-torn:饱受战争摧残的，“-”在英文中是非常常用的形容词构词法，例如，“violence-torn 饱受暴力折磨的”和“poverty-torn 穷困潦倒的”。
4.exceed：超过，超越，常见的表达为“exceed in 在…方面超过”，搭配的借此为“in”，千万别记混了，例如，“Itis dangerous to exceed the recommended dose. 超过建议使用的剂量会有危险。”
5.Corpse：尸体，解剖学专业术语，例如，“He identified the corpse as the criminal hunted after. 他认出那具尸体就是那个被追捕的罪犯。”普通表达为“dead body”。
6.Morgue：陈尸所，太平间。
第二段：The root of the problem is drug prohibition. Narcotics are popular but illegal nearly everywhere. Mexico has a long land border with the United States, the world’s biggest market. Control of smuggling routes generates vast profits, which criminal gangs fight to control. Some seek to intimidate rivals by dumping fresh corpses in the street. But most prefer a more discreet approach. Victims are abducted, murdered and buried in lonely patches of desert. All their families know is that they have a hole in their midst.
参考译文：问题的根源在于禁毒。毒品很受欢迎，但几乎在所有地方都是非法的。墨西哥与世界最大的市场美国有很长的陆地边界。对走私路线的控制产生了巨大的利润，而犯罪团伙正是为了控制这些利润而斗争。一些人试图通过在街上倾倒刚离世的尸体来恐吓对手。但大多数人更喜欢谨慎一点的方法。受害者们遭到绑架、谋杀并埋葬在荒凉的沙漠地带。他们的家人仅知道他们身上有一个枪洞。
知识点解读：
1.drug prohibition：禁毒，这是一个地道的表达，“drug”除了表达“药品”之外，还有“毒品”的意思。
2.Narcotics：尼古丁。
3.Smuggle: 偷运, 走私，例如，“Opium was smuggled seriously in the late Qing Dynasty. 清朝末期鸦片走私严重。”
4.generates vast profits：产生巨大的利益。
5.criminal gang：犯罪团伙，犯罪集团，非常地道的英语表达，“gang”常常是指“一帮有组织的犯罪团伙”外刊上常见的表达还有“gang war 打群架；聚众斗殴”和“street gang 街头匪帮”。“一群”可用“a gang of”表达，例如，“A gang of delinquents harried the storekeeper. 一群街头流氓不断骚扰店主。”
6.Intimidate：恐吓，例如，“The gang tried to intimidate the bank manager.那帮歹徒企图恐吓银行经理。”
7.Dump：作动词时表示“倾倒”，外刊上的“倾销”即“dumping”，“反倾销”即“anti-dumping”。作名词时表示“垃圾场”，例如，“garbage dump 垃圾场；垃圾堆”。
8.Abduct：劫持，绑架，例如，“Tens of thousands of women and girls were abducted.成千上万的妇女和女孩被绑架。”
第三段：The problem is getting worse. Each day 25 people are reported missing, up from one a day in 2006. Some 80% of reported disappearances have occurred since that year. The pace at which Mexicans went missing rose sharply after Felipe Calderón, president from 2006 to 2012, stepped upthe war on drugs by sending the army to fight criminal gangs and kill their leaders. The newly leaderless gangs splintered: the number of criminal groups more than doubled between 2010 and 2020. With more gangs fighting over the same turf, the number of murders soared—and so did the number of unsolved disappearances.
参考译文：问题越来越严重。每天有25人据报失踪，而2006年每天只有一人。自那一年以来，报告的失踪案件中约有80%发生。2006年至2012年，墨西哥总统费利佩·卡尔德龙（FelipeCalderón）派遣军队打击犯罪团伙并杀害其领导人，从而加快了禁毒战争，此后，墨西哥人失踪的速度急剧加快。新成立的无头目帮派四分五裂：2010年至2020年间，犯罪集团的数量翻了一番多。随着越来越多的帮派在同一块地盘上争斗，谋杀案的数量激增，未解决的失踪案的数量也在激增。
知识点解读：
1.stepped up the war：催化战争，使战争加速。
2.splinter：作名词时表示“碎片”，例如，“The girl had a splinter (of wood) in her toe. 这个女孩的脚趾上有一块（木头）碎片。”作动词时表示“使成碎片”，外刊上常用其引申义“四分五裂”，例如本文，“The newly leaderless gangs splintered. 新成立的无头目帮派四分五裂。”
第四段：These are a symptom of the impunity enjoyed by Mexico’s criminal underworld, as is the state’s failure to investigate them properly. The victims are mostly poor, and many are gangsters. Voters and officials have long dismissed them as people who chose “the wrong path”, though plenty were witnesses or, increasingly, women who were kidnapped and trafficked. The only people who have doggedly tried to find the disappeared are their mothers. Groups of relatives have clubbed together to interview witnesses, search for mass graves and fill the gap left by an indifferent state. It was only after 43 student teachers vanished in 2014 (and were apparently murdered with the collusion of corrupt officials) that the government set up a national commission to search for missing people and required police to accept reports of disappearances promptly.
参考译文：这是墨西哥黑社会犯罪逍遥法外的表现，也是该州未能对其进行适当调查的表现。受害者大多是穷人，也有一些是歹徒。选民和官员长期以来一直将他们视为选择了“错误道路”的人，尽管他们中很多人是证人，或者越来越多的受害者是被绑架和贩卖的妇女。唯一顽强地寻找失踪者的人是他们的母亲。成群结队的亲属聚集在一起采访证人，寻找乱葬坑，填补这个冷漠国家留下的空白。直到2014年43名学生教师失踪（显然是在腐败官员的勾结下被谋杀）之后，政府才成立了一个全国委员会来搜寻失踪人员，并要求警方迅即接受失踪报告。
知识点解读：
1.impunity：免于惩罚，其动词为“punish”，（punish的名词形式为publishment），例如，“They were justly punished. 他们得到应有的惩罚。
2.criminal underworld：黑社会，使非常地道的英文表达，下次再看到“黑社会”的时候千万别再翻译成“black society”了。
3.kidnap：绑架，例如，“She had been doped and kidnapped. 她被人下了蒙汗药后遭绑架。”
4.traffick: 非法交易，尤其是指“贩卖人口”，常说的“人贩子”在英文中的表达为“trafficker”.
5.missing people:失踪人口，表达前置定语“失踪的”只能用“missing”，不可以用“missed”.
6.Prompt:作形容词时表示“立即的，即时的”，例如，“prompt payment 立即付款”。作动词时表示“促进”，例如，“He was prompted by patriotism.他为爱国心所驱使。”
第五段：Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s president since 2018, has taken a different approach to the drug war, which has also failed. Under the slogan “hugs not bullets”, he has told the army not to confront drug gangs. In effect, he has left them to get on with their business. The violence has intensified and the pace of disappearances has increased. In May the government passed a law to set up a forensic centre and national dna database to identify bodies of the missing. Mr López Obrador has increased the National Search Commission’s budget, but at $37m a year it is just 1% of what he is spending on a new tourist railway in 2022.
参考译文：2018年以来担任墨西哥总统的安德烈·曼努埃尔·洛佩斯·奥布拉多（Andrés Manuel López Obrador）对毒品战争采取了不同的做法，但这场战争也失败了。在“拥抱而非子弹”的口号下，他告诉军队不要对抗贩毒集团。事实上，他让贩毒团伙继续经营业务。于是暴力加剧，人口失踪的速度加快。5月，政府通过了一项法律，建立一个法医中心和国家DNA数据库，以识别失踪人员的尸体。洛佩斯·奥布拉多先生增加了国家搜索委员会的预算，但每年3700万美元的预算仅为他2022年新建旅游铁路支出的1%。
知识点解读：
1.get on with their business：正常经营，也就是经济学上的“存续”。
2.intensify:增强，加剧，例如，“The conflict is almost bound to intensify. 冲突几乎注定会加剧。”
3.pass a law：通过律法。
第六段：Until the United States legalises drugs, Mexico will always have a gang problem. Yet it could reduce the harm if it did more to end impunity for murder. A good start would be to investigate every disappearance properly. That means hiring more forensic experts, building more laboratories and cleaning out corrupt police forces. By one estimate it could take 35 years just to clear the backlog of unidentified bodies. The time to start is now.
参考译文：在美国使毒品合法化之前，墨西哥将始终存在帮派问题。然而，如果它能采取更多措施结束谋杀罪不受惩罚的现象，它可能会减少伤害。一个好的开端是适当地调查每一次失踪事件。这意味着要雇佣更多的法医专家，建立更多的实验室，清理腐败的警察队伍。据估计，清理积压的不明尸体可能需要35年的时间。最该行动起来的是当下。
知识点解读：
1.forensic：辩论的；法院的；惯用的表达有“forensic medicine 法医学”, “forensic test 法医化验”和“forensic science 法医学”.
2.cleaning out corrupt police forces：清理腐败的警察队伍。“force”在政经上经常表示“队伍、力量”，例如，“economic forces 经济力量”。
3.backlog：积压未完成的事情，例如，“A huge backlog of work had built up. 一大堆工作积压了起来。”
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