紐時賞析／法拉利與飢餓孩童：委內瑞拉社會主義願景一團亂

Ferraris and Hungry Children: Venezuela’s Socialist Vision in Shambles

法拉利與飢童：委內瑞拉社會主義願景一團亂

In the capital, a store sells Prada purses and a 110-inch television for $115,000. Not far away, a Ferrari dealership has opened, while a new restaurant allows well-off diners to enjoy a meal seated atop a giant crane overlooking the city.

在首都，一家商店出售Prada包與售價11萬5千美元的110吋電視。不遠處，一家法拉利經銷商開業，而一家新餐廳讓富裕食客坐在俯瞰城市的巨型起重機之上享用美饌。

“When was the last time you did something for the first time?” the restaurant’s host boomed over a microphone to excited customers as they sang along to a Coldplay song.

當興奮的客人跟著「酷玩」樂團的歌一起唱時，這家餐廳的主持人對著麥克風，向他們發出低沉洪亮的聲音，「你最近一次嘗試新事物是什麼時候？」

This is not Dubai or Tokyo, but Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, where a socialist revolution once promised equality and an end to the bourgeoisie.

這裡不是杜拜或東京，而是卡拉卡斯，委內瑞拉的首都，在這裡發生的社會主義革命曾經承諾平等與終結資產階級。

Venezuela’s economy imploded nearly a decade ago, prompting a huge outflow of migrants in one of worst crises in modern Latin American history. Now there are signs the country is settling into a new, disorienting normality, with everyday products easily available, poverty starting to lessen — and surprising pockets of wealth arising.

委內瑞拉的經濟在近十年前內爆，是現代拉丁美洲史上最嚴重危機之一，曾引發移居者大量外流。現在有跡象表明，這個國家正在適應一個新的、令人迷惘的常態，日常用品方便可得，貧困開始減少，財力出人意料的開始增加。

That has left the socialist government of authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro presiding over an improving economy as the opposition is struggling to unite and as the United States has scaled back oil sanctions that helped decimate the country’s finances.

這顯示專制總統馬杜羅的社會主義政府掌管的經濟正在好轉，而反對派正努力試圖團結，而且美國的石油制裁正在縮減，這項制裁是重挫委國財政的原因之一。

Conditions remain dire for a huge portion of the population, and while the hyperinflation that crippled the economy has moderated, prices still triple annually, among the worst rates in the world.

對大部分委國人民來說，形勢依然嚴峻，儘管讓經濟陷入癱瘓的惡性通貨膨脹有所緩和，物價仍每年增加3倍，通膨率仍是世界最糟糕之一。

But with the government’s ease of restrictions on the use of U.S. dollars to address Venezuela’s economic collapse, business activity is returning to what was once the region’s wealthiest nation.

但隨著政府放寬美元使用限制以解決委內瑞拉經濟崩潰，商業活動正重返這個曾是該區域最富裕的國度。

As a result, Venezuela is increasingly a country of haves and have-nots, and one of the world’s most unequal societies, according to Encovi, a respected national poll by the Institute of Economic and Social Research of the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas.

根據卡拉卡斯安德烈斯．貝約天主教大學經濟與社會研究所執行、受到敬重的Encovi全國民調，如今委內瑞拉逐漸成為富人和窮人兩極分化的國家，以及全世界最不平等的社會之一。

Maduro has boasted that the economy grew by 15% last year over the previous year and that tax collections and exports also rose — though some economists stress that the economy’s growth is misleading because it followed years of huge declines.

馬杜羅吹噓說，去年經濟比前一年成長15%，稅收與出口也有所上升，儘管一些經濟學家強調，因為經歷多年大規模衰退，經濟成長有誤導之嫌。

For the first time in seven years, poverty is decreasing: Half of the nation lives in poverty, down from 65% in 2021, according to the Encovi poll.

根據Encovi民調，貧窮率出現7年來首次下降：全國一半人口生活貧困，低於2021年的65%。

But the survey also found that the wealthiest Venezuelans were 70 times richer than the poorest, putting the country on par with some countries in Africa that have the highest rates of inequality in the world.

但該調查還發現，最富裕的委內瑞拉人比最貧困的人富有70倍，使該國和全球貧富不均比率最高的一些非洲國家平起平坐。

文／Isayen Herrera,Frances Robles　譯／周辰陽

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【張佑生】

馬克思主張，經濟活動決定上層建築。本文報導社會主義掛帥的委內瑞拉貧富差距惡化的現象，標題措辭十分嚴厲。原意為屠宰場的shambles以複數型態出現但可當單數使用，意指「混亂」，常見片語be (in) a shambles（一團糟）：Governmen corruption has left the economy in a shambles.

源於法文的bourgeois指中產階級，在馬克思的語彙裡是「資產階級」，音譯為「布爾喬亞」，本文採此義，有貶義；petit bourgeois是小資產階級，社會中下階層，也帶貶義，例如petit bourgeois prejudices.

在此語境下，haves跟have-nots可解為資產階級跟無產階級，貧富差距擴大可以說：the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots.

文中提到委內瑞拉的經濟在10年前曾「內爆」，implode是explode的反義字，拆除高樓大廈的瞬間坍塌是「內爆」效果。一個組織或系統的「內爆」是因其內部瑕疵而突然徹底崩潰，與collapse同義。