VOA慢速英语听力：洪都拉斯计划在人口稀少的加勒比海岛屿上建造高度安全的监狱 Honduras Plans High Security Prison Build on Unpopulated Caribbean Island.
Honduras has announced plans to build a high security prison on an unpopulated island in the Caribbean Sea off the country’s eastern coast. The Swan Island project would become the Western Hemisphere’s only island prison. Honduran officials say they plan to use the prison to house the country’s most violent criminals.
洪都拉斯宣布计划在加勒比海岛屿上建造一座高安全性监狱，位于该国东海岸附近。天鹅岛项目将成为西半球唯一的岛屿监狱。洪都拉斯官员表示，他们计划将该监狱用于关押该国最暴力的罪犯。
In the past, Honduran President Xiomara Castro promised to solve gang violence through reforms to the government and criminal justice systems. Now, she plans to create an island prison capable of holding 2,000 people. The island is over 240 kilometers off the coast.
过去，洪都拉斯总统西奥马拉·卡斯特罗曾承诺通过对政府和刑事司法系统进行改革来解决帮派暴力问题。现在，她计划建立一个能容纳2,000人的岛屿监狱。这座岛屿距离海岸超过240公里。
Island prisons used to be common in Latin America, with owner countries including Brazil, Chile and Colombia. However, riots, poor conditions and prison escapes led to their closing. In 2019, the final island prison closed, a property of Mexico.
岛屿监狱曾经在拉丁美洲很常见，拥有者国家包括巴西、智利和哥伦比亚。然而，骚乱、恶劣条件和狱中越狱导致了它们的关闭。2019年，墨西哥最后一座岛屿监狱关闭。
Officials in Honduras say the new prison will help stop violence. But, critics say island prisons fail to deal with the root of the problem.
洪都拉斯官员表示，新监狱将有助于制止暴力。但是，批评人士表示，岛屿监狱未能解决问题的根源。
Tiziano Breda is a Latin America expert at Italy’s Instituto Affari Internazionali. He said that new prisons are “…quite useless if you don’t first regain control of the others you already have.”
Tiziano Breda是意大利国际事务研究所的拉丁美洲专家。他说，如果你不先重新控制你已经拥有的其他监狱，新监狱将是“相当无用的”。
Last month in Honduras, 46 women were killed in a prison fight that involved guns, knives and fire. It was one of the worst incidents in the history of women’s prisons.
上个月，洪都拉斯一次监狱斗殴中，有46名女性在枪支、刀具和火灾中丧生。这是女性监狱历史上最严重的事件之一。
In answer, President Castro said she would “take drastic measures” and put an end to the gangs that have terrorized Honduras for years.
作为回应，卡斯特罗总统表示她将“采取严厉措施”，终结多年来恐吓洪都拉斯的帮派。
José Jorge Fortín, the head of Honduras’ armed forces, told the Associated Press that the only way to communicate with the island prison is by satellite. He said the government thinks this will make it difficult for gangs inside the prison to organize crime and violence.
洪都拉斯武装部队负责人何塞·霍尔赫·福尔廷告诉美联社，与岛屿监狱通信的唯一方式是通过卫星。他表示政府认为这将使监狱内的帮派难以组织犯罪和暴力活动。
Fortín did not say how much it would cost or how long it will take to build the prison.
福尔廷没有透露建造这座监狱将需要多少费用，也没有说明需要多长时间。
The neighboring country of El Salvador has already taken a strong position against gangs. One in every 100 people there is a prisoner. The nation’s president says gang members represent 30 percent of the prison population in El Salvador.
邻国萨尔瓦多已经采取了强硬立场对抗帮派。萨尔瓦多每100名居民中就有一名囚犯。该国总统表示，帮派成员占萨尔瓦多监狱人口的30％。
Rights activists have accused that country’s government of abuses in its justice system. But, El Salvador has seen sharp drops in violence and citizens increasingly support the system.
人权活动人士指责该国政府在司法体系中滥用职权。但是，萨尔瓦多的暴力事件显著减少，市民对该体系的支持越来越多。
“If another country has done something well, why not copy it?” Honduras’ Fortín said.
“如果另一个国家做得好，为什么不学习？”洪都拉斯的福尔廷说。
But, Tiziano Breda says this way of thinking moves the country away from changing policies that could make long-term differences.
但是，Tiziano Breda表示，这种思维方式使国家远离可能产生长期影响的政策变革。
Honduras’s security policy “has become even more reactive and short-sighted, mimicking what’s going on in El Salvador to contain damage to their public image,” Breda said.
Breda表示，洪都拉斯的安全政策“变得更加反应迅速和目光短浅，模仿萨尔瓦多正在发生的事情来遏制损害他们公众形象的行为”。
However, these ideas are supported by many Hondurans, including scientist Said Santos. He said, “…ending the crime problem once and for all here in Honduras would be ideal for this country.”
然而，许多洪都拉斯人，包括科学家Said Santos支持这些想法。他说，“……在洪都拉斯彻底解决犯罪问题对这个国家来说将是理想的”。
Others are expressing environmental concerns about the new prison plan. Scientists say they worry the project will damage the island’s highly diverse ecosystem. Last week, the Honduran Biologists Association called the prison a “threat” to nature.
还有其他人对新监狱计划表示环境担忧。科学家们担心该项目会破坏岛屿高度多样化的生态系统。上周，洪都拉斯生物学家协会称该监狱对自然构成“威胁”。
Lucky Medina is Honduras’ secretary of natural resources and the environment. He told the AP that the prison will be built in unity with nature. Officials will follow environmental protection measures, he said.
Lucky Medina是洪都拉斯的自然资源与环境部长。他告诉美联社，监狱将与自然和谐相处。官员们将遵循环境保护措施。
I’m Dominic Varela.
我是多米尼克·瓦雷拉。
Words in This Story
gang – n. a group of persons working to unlawful or antisocial ends
drastic – adj. extreme in effect or action
mimic – v. to copy closely
ideal – adj. having no flaw; perfect
diverse – adj. differing from one another
