奧巴馬將於3月訪問古巴 Barack Obama to visit Cuba
Barack Obama plans to visit Cuba next month in what would be the first trip to the island by a sitting US president in nearly 90 years.
美國總統巴拉克攠巴馬(Barack Obama)計劃下月訪問古巴，這將是近90年來在任美國總統首次訪問這座島嶼。
A US official confirmed that Mr Obama would travel to Cuba in March, just 15 months after his landmark decision to normalise relations with the island after five decades of hostility and diplomatic estrangement between the US and the regimes of Fidel and Raúl Castro. The last sitting US president to visit Havana was Calvin Coolidge in 1928.
一名美國官員證實奧巴馬將於3月前往古巴，離奧巴馬決定與古巴關係正常化僅隔了15個月，這一里程碑式的決定結束了美國與勞爾愠斯特羅(Raúl Castro)和菲德爾愠斯特羅(Fidel Castro)政權長達五十年的敵對關係與外交隔閡。上一任訪問哈瓦那的在任美國總統是卡爾文柯立芝(Calvin Coolidge)，時間是1928年。
The proposed visit, first reported by ABC News, came under immediate attack from several Republican presidential contenders, including the two Cuban-American senators running for the White House.
美國廣播公司(ABC News)首先報道了這一擬議中的訪問，隨後立即遭到幾個共和黨(Republican)總統競選者的攻擊，其中包括兩位競選總統的古巴裔參議員。
Marco Rubio, the Florida senator whose parents fled to the US from the island, said he would only visit Cuba as US president once the country was free. “I’ll tell you the problem with the Cuban government: it’s not just a communist dictatorship, it is an anti-American communist dictatorship,” Mr Rubio said in South Carolina. “A year and two months after the opening of Cuba, the Cuban government remains as repressive as ever. But now, they have access to millions if not billions of dollars in resources that they didn’t have access to before this opening.”
佛羅里達州參議員馬可脠比奧(Marco Rubio)的父母是從古巴逃至美國的，他表示如果作為美國總統訪問古巴，他要等到這個國家自由時。魯比奧在南卡羅來納州表示：“我要告訴你古巴政府的問題，它不僅是共產主義專政政府，還是反美的共產主義專政政府。與古巴開始關係正常化一年零兩個月後，古巴政府的壓迫仍與以往一樣。但現在他們有機會獲得數百萬，甚至數十億美元的資源，這在此前是無法獲得的。”
Ted Cruz, the Texas senator whose father immigrated from Cuba, also criticised Mr Obama, adding that he would not visit the island as president while either of the Castro brothers remained in power. “It’s a real mistake. I think the president ought to instead be pushing for a free Cuba,” said Mr Cruz, who added that Mr Obama had thrown the Castro regime a “lifeline” at a time when it was “on the ropes” because of weaker support from Venezuela due to collapsing oil prices.
得克薩斯州參議員特德克魯茲(Ted Cruz)的父親是古巴移民，他也批評了奧巴馬，還表示如果作為總統，只要任何一位卡斯特羅兄弟還在位，他就不會訪問這個國家。克魯茲説：“這是個真正的錯誤。我認為奧巴馬總統應該去推動古巴自由。”他表示由於委內瑞拉因油價崩潰而減小了對卡斯特羅政權的支持，該政權已經“快要垮掉”，正在此時奧巴馬給他們拋了根“救生索”。
Jeb Bush, former Florida governor, said it “breaks my heart” that Mr Obama would visit the island. “It is a tragedy in my mind that we have diplomatic relations and the president is trying to build legacy,” said Mr Bush. “My hope is that Cuba will be free one day and that is when the president should be going there.”
佛羅里達州前州長傑布布什(Jeb Bush)表示，奧巴馬將訪問古巴“令我傷透了心”。“在我看來，跟古巴恢復外交關係是一場悲劇，而總統正努力打造他的遺產，”布什説。“我希望，古巴有朝一日將變成一個自由的國度，到那時美國總統才應當訪問古巴。”
While the opening to Cuba has prompted fierce reaction from some Republicans, opinion polls suggest it is much less controversial among the public, including Cuban-Americans.
儘管對古巴開放在一些共和黨人中間引起了強烈反響，但民意調查顯示，此事在包括古巴裔美國人在內的公眾看來，遠遠沒有那麼大的爭議性。
As part of the re-establishment of ties, the US has relaxed travel restrictions to Cuba — including the restoration of direct commercial flights — and has opened the path to investments in sectors such as telecoms and the internet. But any further deepening of commercial relations with Cuba would require Congress to repeal the remaining laws that underpin the decades-old economic embargo. Penny Pritzker, US commerce secretary, called on Wednesday for Cuba to do more to open up its economy. “The US companies that are attempting to do business in your country continue to face challenges,” she told Cuban officials at a meeting in Washington between the two governments to boost economic ties.
為了重建關係，美國已放寬了對古巴的旅行限制——包括恢復直通商業航班——並且在電信和互聯網等行業對古巴打開了投資的大門。但是，如果要深化兩國商業關係，將需要國會廢止那些仍在執行的在過去幾十年對古巴實施經濟禁運的法律。週三，美國商務部部長彭妮渠裏茨克(Penny Pritzker)呼籲古巴採取更多措施開放本國經濟。“努力在貴國經商的美國公司仍然面臨着諸多挑戰，”她在華盛頓召開的一次旨在提升雙邊經濟關係的政府間會議上對古巴官員表示。
Mr Obama signalled in December that he might visit Havana. Asked then if his presence would reduce pressure for political reform in Cuba, he told Yahoo News: “If I go on a visit, then part of the deal is that I get to talk to everybody.”
去年12月，奧巴馬錶示，他或許會訪問哈瓦那。那時，當被問及他的現身是否將減輕古巴實施政治改革的壓力時，他告訴雅虎新聞(Yahoo News)：“如果我去訪問古巴，我的目的之一就是跟所有人對話。”
“I’ve made very clear in my conversations directly with President [Raul] Castro that we would continue to reach out to those who want to broaden the scope for, you know, free expression inside of Cuba.”
“我在跟古巴總統勞爾愠斯特羅的直接對話中已明確表示，我們將繼續與那些想要擴大古巴國內言論自由邊界的人士們進行接觸。”
