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CEAUSESCU, NORIEGA MIXED POWER WITH OPULENCE
http://www.sina.com.cn 2002/01/30 10:09  空中美语

  

  Four years ago, it was Imelda's shoes that caused the fuss. Now, it's Elena's shoes.

  There's something about political power that breeds extravagance,a lesson reinforced by the trappings of wealth left hind last week by fleeing despots in both Romania and Panama.

  When the Marcoses were forced out of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos' shoe collection enough for her to change daily for nine years without wearing the same pair twice was the talk of Manila.

  The pattern is much the same nowadays in Bucharest,swheresElena Ceausescu boasted a wardrobe featuring shoes with diamond-encrusted heels one day, only to find herself in front of a firing squad the next.

  "We live in a normal apartment, just like every other citizen," Elena Ceausescu told a military court during her closed trial.

  That's not what Romania's new authorities found when they turned up at the Ceausescu residence. Instead of a "normal apartment," they discovered a 40-room mansion crammed with valuable paintings, exquisitefountains and gold-plated fixtures in the bathrooms. Every room had a television and a videocassette player.

  In Panama, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega also cut few corners in pursuit of the good life. He had an array of houses and apartments in Panama, France and the Dominican Republic, a collection of personal aircraft and three large pleasure yachts Macho I, Macho II and Macho III.

  Former Haitian President Jean-Claude Duvalier, who fled the same month as Marcos, was worth an estimated US million.

  The late Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza built up a fortune worth about US million through investments in prostitution, gambling and construction, according to Walter LaFeber, an historian.

  The ranks of showy strongmen have diminished lately with the accelerating trend toward democracy. Emperor Bokassa I, who spent US million on his coronation in 1976, is a dim memory to his former subjects in the Central African Republic.

金钱与权力

  四年前,伊美黛的鞋子引起了轩然大波,而今却换成了艾莲娜的鞋子。

  政治权力总会导致生活的奢华。这可由上周罗马尼亚及巴拿马两国仓皇出走的独裁者所遗留下来的财富而得到再一次的印证。

  当马可士一家人被迫离开菲律宾时,伊美黛·马可士所拥有的鞋子是马尼拉最受注目的话题。如果每天换一双的话,伊美黛的鞋子多到可以让她连续穿九年。

  时到今日,在布加勒斯特的情形也差不多。艾莲娜·西奥塞古前一天还向人吹嘘她橱子里装满了鞋跟镶饰钻石的高跟鞋,隔天却发现自己正站在行刑队面前。

  艾莲娜·西奥塞古在接受最后审判时告诉军事法庭说:"我们住在普通公寓里,就像一般大众一样。"

  罗马尼亚新政府在西奥塞古住处所发现的可不是这个样子:不但不是间'普通公寓',他们所发现的是幢具有四十个房间,挤满名贵的绘画、精致的喷泉以及镀金浴室用品的华厦。每个房间都有一架电视机及放影机。

  在巴拿马,曼纽·安东尼欧·诺瑞加将军在追求美好生活时也走了些捷径。他在巴拿马、法国及多明尼加共和国拥有许多房屋及公寓,收集了一些私人飞机以及三艘大型的游艇--阳刚一号、阳刚二号及阳刚三号。

  海地前总统杜华利与马可士在同一个月内流亡出国。据估计他拥有四亿美元。

  据历史学家华特·拉法柏指出,前任尼加拉瓜总统苏慕萨藉着投资、赌博及建筑事业而积聚了一亿美元的财富。

  由于民主潮流的影响,最近那些喜好摆排场的强人已日渐减少。布卡萨一世皇帝在一九七六年即化时,耗费了两千万美元,这对曾是他子民的中非共和国而言,已是个朦胧的回忆。




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空中美语 专栏

Annotation

1.opulence n.财富

2. fuss n.大惊小怪;急躁

3. extravagance n.放纵;奢侈

4. trappings n.装饰;表饰

5. encrust v.镶嵌

6. exquisite a.精致的

7. prostitution n.卖淫;堕落

8. the ranks[比喻](人的)集团;全体

9. coronation n.加冕;加冕礼


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