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The President Of Indian Descent

Peruvians elected a rags-to-riches2 economist as their next president in a vote that highlighted persisting racial divisions in the land where Spanish conquistadors3 defeated the ancient Inca Empire .

With 87 percent of the vote counted, Alejandro Toledo defeated Alan Garcia, 52 percent to 48 percent. International observers said this runoff election was Peru's cleanest vote in years.

"Tonight Peruvians celebrate the triumph of democracy, "Toledo told thousands gathered in front of the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Lima. "I swear, brothers and sisters, I will never let you down. " Toledo, a shoeshine boy who rose from poverty to become a World Bank economist before entering politics, will become Peru's first freely elected president of Indian descent and probably the first president ever in Latin America who made Indian pride a cornerstone of his campaign.

Toledo capitalized on his dark, chiseled Indian features and short stature to mount a campaign replete with imagery of triumphant Inca4 emperors and with odes to Indian glory.

Such rhetoric came as a shock in a country where Indians face discrimination in almost every walk of life and where two of the top television comedy acts are white men frolicking around as silly Indian women in colorful skirts.

Garcia , a 6 -foot-3 Spanish-looking former president, used flowery language to overcome memories of his calamitous 1985-90 presidency, marred by corruption, guerrilla violence , food shortages and hyperinflation.

He returned to Peru in January to seek re-election after nearly nine years in exile waiting for corruption charges against him to expire. Despite his loss, he emerges as Peru's strongest opposition voice and a force to be reckoned with in the future.

Garcia 's campaign stumbled because it failed to reach the Indian and mixed -race population that makes up 80 percent of Peru's 26 million people. Many of those voters found a new hope in Toledo.

"He will be a symbol for all of Peru, "said Mariano de la Cruz, 62 , an Indian migrant from the highlands state of Ayacucho, after voting in a Lima slum." It's a source of pride that for the first time in my life I'll have someone of Indian race governing me . "

With partial regional results tallied, it was clear that the heavily Indian highlands voted largely for Toledo , while Garcia took coastal areas dominated by descendants of the Spanish conquistadors.

Toledo's campaign clearly targeted people with indigenous roots. Calling himself" a stubborn Indian with a cause, "he used symbols of the ancient Inca Empire and dressed in pointy hats and multicolored tunics during campaign stops.

"This is a very racist society, "Toledo said during his final campaign stop in the highlands city of Cuzco5 ."The elitist leadership still has trouble digesting the possibility that
someone like us could come to govern. "

Anthropologist Juan Ossio said Toledo recognized the potential political force of Peru's Indian population during his first presidential campaign i 1995 when his campaign slogan was" a Peruvian like you"and finally was able to capitalize on it this year.

"He has learned to play very well with the symbols of Andean culture , "Ossio said. "Now President Toledo has the duty to build bridges so the two cultures can come together.

Toledo acknowledged that responsibility in his victory speech, pledging to be"a president for all Peruvians".

But, he added:"In me, you'll have the same Alejandro who walks the streets, the same Alejandro who reaches out his hand to touch yours. "

Toledo campaigned largely on a populist platform. He has pledged to create 2.5 million jobs, raise salaries for public workers and lower taxes. "He knows the poverty we endure, "said Indian voter Primitiva Huaman, 58 ."He knows all our suffering. "

练习题：

Ⅰ. Matching:

1. feature A. child

2. descendant B. basis

3. cornerstone C. appear

4. emerge D. end

5. expire E. face

6. indigenous F. native

Ⅱ. Question :
In the past, Peru is called .

参考答案

Ⅰ. 1. E 2 . A 3 . B 4 . C 5 . D 6. F

Ⅱ. Inca

参考译文

秘鲁的“印第安”总统

秘鲁人选了一位由贫致富的经济学家当他们的总统, 这次选举让人们又一次感受到了这片曾被西班牙人征服的古印加帝国土地上的种族差异。

已统计出的87% 选票中, 亚历杭德罗· 托莱多以52% 对48% 击败了对手阿兰· 加西亚。国际观察家称, 这次进行的秘鲁大选是近年来秘鲁最“ 干净”的一次大选。“ 今晚秘鲁人民要为民主政治的胜利而庆祝, ”托莱多向聚集在利马市中心喜来登酒店门前的人群宣誓:“ 兄弟姐妹们, 我向你们发誓, 我绝不会让你们失望。”

托莱多出身贫寒, 做过擦鞋童, 在步入政坛之前是世界银行的经济学家, 如今, 他将成为秘鲁第一位通过自由选举产生的有着印第安人血统的总统, 同时也是拉丁美洲第一位以印第安人的自豪感作为竞选基础并赢得大选的总统。

托莱多利用自己印第安人特有的黝黑的皮肤, 轮廓分明的脸庞和不高的身材, 向此次大选发起了冲击。他的竞选过程中处处可见获胜的印加帝国国王的肖像, 处处可闻颂扬印第安人荣耀的赞歌。

这种竞选方式让这个印第安人处处受歧视的国家大为震惊, 在这个国家, 人气最旺的两位白人男性电视喜剧明星会打扮成穿着艳丽裙子、傻乎乎的印第安妇女嬉闹取乐。托莱多的对手加西亚有六英尺三英寸高, 是一位有着西班牙人长相的秘鲁前总统。他巧言令色, 试图掩盖1985 年到1990 年任总统期间的种种灾难。那几年, 贪污盛行, 游击暴力频发, 食物短缺, 物价飞涨。

加西亚在外流亡九年直到对他的贪污指控失效后, 才于今年一月回国再次参选。尽管他没有赢得这次大选, 但已成为秘鲁最强的反对声, 一股不可等闲视之的力量。

加西亚在这次竞选中落下马来, 主要是因为他没有将自己的影响渗透到占2 600 万秘鲁人口80% 的印第安人和其他混合种族的人口中。而那些人却在托莱多身上看到了新的希望。

“ 他将成为所有秘鲁人的代表, ”一位印第安老人马里阿诺· 库斯在利马的贫民窟参加了投票后说:“ 这真是一件值得骄傲的事, 在我有生之年我终于看到一位印第安人统治我们自己了。”马里阿诺62 岁, 来自高原阿亚库彻州。

据不完全统计结果显示, 来自内陆地区的印第安人绝大多数倾向托莱多, 而西班牙人 后 裔占多数的西部沿海地区人口则是加西亚的支持者。

托莱多显然将目标盯准了土著的后裔, 他称自己是一位“ 有远大理想的固执的印第安人”。在巡回竞选游说中, 他使用了象征古印加帝国的一些东西, 他头戴尖顶帽, 身着色彩绚烂的束腰外衣。

“ 这是一个种族主义很严重的国家, ”托莱多在竞选运动的最后一站——— 地处高原的库斯科说道:“ 精英领导层很难接受像我们这样的人来统治这个国家。”

人类学家胡安· 欧塞奥说托莱多在他1995 年的第一次总统竞选中就发现了秘鲁印第安人口中潜在的政治影响力, 当时他的竞选口号是“ 一个和你一样的秘鲁人”, 在今年的竞选中他充分用上了这一点。

欧塞奥说:“ 托莱多很好地利用了安第斯文化的象征意义, 现在他的任务就是在秘鲁白人文化和本土文化间架起一座沟通的桥梁。”

托莱多在他获胜后的演讲中也明确了自己的责任, 他发誓自己要成为一位“ 全体秘鲁人的总统”。

他补充道:“ 在我, 你们仍然会看到一个普通的托莱多走在马路上, 一个普通的托莱多伸出手来同你握手。”

托莱多的竞选是站在平民的立场上的, 他保证将创造250 万个就业机会, 为工人们提高工资, 同时降低税收。

58岁的印第安选民普里密蒂瓦· 华曼说:“ 他知道我们的贫困, 他知道我们所有的艰难。”

阅读解释

1. 亚历杭德罗·托莱多( Aleijandro Toledo, 1946— ) 2001 年6 月当选秘鲁总统, 任期至2006 年7 月。

2. 作形容词用, 表示“ 由贫致富的”。nouveau riche ( 法语) 暴发户, 字面的意思等于英语中的new rich。

3. conquistadors n. ( 西班牙语) 征服者, 指16 世纪征服秘鲁、墨西哥等地的西班牙人。

4. Inca n. ① 印加人, 南美印第安人的一个部落。② 印加帝国国王( 或贵族成员) 。在哥伦布发现新大陆时, 美洲有三个出色的文明帝国: 现在墨西哥一带的阿斯特克帝国( 他们建有类似金字塔形状的庙宇) , 中美洲一带的玛雅文明( 他们当时有一种比中国还要先进的计算方法, 可惜在玛雅人被欧洲人屠杀后失传) , 南美安第斯山一带的“ 黄金之国”印加帝国, 后来这些文明因为西班牙殖民者的入侵, 特别是因为欧洲人带来的美洲从来没有的天花传染病, 而加速灭亡。

5. 库斯克周围的谷地是12 世纪印加帝国开始扩张的大本营。印加帝国后来拥有的巨大疆域就是从这里开始的。托莱多选择这里为最后一站具有深刻的象征意义。