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Bello

貝優

Dallying with a monster

玩火自焚

In failing to snuff out vigilantism, Mexico is runningbig risks

自發群眾運動遏制失敗，墨西哥厝火積薪

THE rule of law has long been a stranger to the sweltering lowlands known as the Tierra Calientein the Mexican state of Michoacan. The site of battles over land in the 1940s and 1950s, thearea suffered an exodus of migrant workers to California. In the 1970s the drug trade tookroot there, attracted by the proximity of the por to fLazaro Cardenasand the remoteness ofthe federal government inMexico City. Not content with trafficking methamphetamines, thelatest mafia to lord it over the Tierra Caliente, the whimsically named “Knights Templar”,established a tight grip over its invertebrate society, co-opting local authorities, extortingprotection money and raping women.

在墨西哥米卻肯州名為Tierra Caliente的悶熱低地，法律法規早為人熟視無睹。20世紀40年代至50年代，這一地區飽受土地戰爭洗禮，大量工人涌至加利福尼亞。因毗鄰拉薩羅卡德納斯港，遠離墨西哥城聯邦政府，70年代毒品交易于此根深蒂固。最近，“Knights Templar”黑幫在此盤踞，其名稱極為古怪，繼冰毒走私無法滿足其胃口，又緊鑼密鼓的占領了這一軟弱無力的地區，選出地方政府，敲詐保護費，凌辱婦女。

That proved too much for the Tierra Caliente's ranchers and lime-growers. A year ago theyrebelled, forming “self-defence groups”. These vigilantes now control 26 of Michoacan's 113municipal districts. When earlier this year they threatened to storm Apatzingan, a town of99,000, President Enrique Pe?a Nieto dispatched a federal official, Alfredo Castillo, and a squadof federal policemen. Mr Castillo struck agreements with the vigilantes: they will be vetted, intheory at least, and then join an ill-defined “rural defence corps” under the army's aegis.

當地的牧場主及酸橙種植戶忍無可忍，于一年前揭竿而起，成立自衛組織。如今這些自發群眾已控制米卻肯州113個地區中的26個。今年伊始，他們威脅稱著手攻克阿帕欽甘—一99000人的鎮。總統裴納尼托派遣聯邦官員Alfredo Castillo以及一中隊聯邦警察處理此事，Castillo與自發群眾達成協議，至少從理論上而言，他們要接受審查，并編入農村防衛軍接受軍隊保護，但該防衛軍定義模糊。

The vigilantes have attracted sympathy from right and left inMexico, which see them aslegitimate expressions of popular desperation in the face of mafia violence and official neglect.The government seems perplexed. Mr Castillo said he would restore order “in 15 days”, butthere is no sign that he has a thought-out strategy to deal either with the vigilantes or thelawlessness that spawned them.

墨西哥左派和右派對自發群眾深為同情，認為他們在黑幫的暴力與政府的不作為中，以合法的方式，傳達出普遍的絕望。政府似乎手足無措，Castillo稱他將在15天內恢復秩序，但他并沒有一個經過深思熟慮的方略，處理這些自發組織的群眾，解決釀成此事的法律缺失。

That is alarming, especially since the germ of vigilantism has appeared elsewhere inMexico.Experience in other Latin American countries suggests that Mr Pe?a's people risk dallying with amonster.Colombiais the most notorious case. In the 1980s landowners and ranchers, faced withattacks by left-wing guerrillas, organised vigilante groups. These quickly mushroomed into theUnited Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, a national organisation of over 20,000 paramilitarieswho slaughtered tens of thousands of civilians and stole their land while morphing into drug-trafficking outfits. Although most disbanded after a government security build-up, remnantshave murdered more than 60 farmers to thwart efforts to restore stolen land to its rightfulowners.

自發運動在墨西哥其他地區出現之后，尤其觸目警心。其他拉美國家的經歷表明墨西哥人民將玩火自焚。哥倫比亞便是一個臭名昭著的例子。80年代，地主和牧場主遭到由群眾自發組織的左翼游擊戰攻擊，后來發展為哥倫比亞聯合自衛隊，這一國家組織由超過2000名準軍事成員組成，并逐漸演變為毒品走私組織，屠殺了成百上千名平民，奪走了他們的土地。雖然政府安全部隊建立后，自衛隊大多解體，但殘余勢力仍殺害了60名農民，企圖阻撓土地回歸合法擁有者。

On the face of things, Peru's experience of vigilantism was more successful. Villagers inCajamarca, in the country's northern Andes, formed rondas campesinas (a sort ofneighbourhood watch) in the 1970s, to tackle cattle-rustling and rural crime. Further south,around Ayacucho and theApurimac valley, in the 1980s and 1990s the army fostered lightlyarmed peasant self-defence committees. These helped defeat the Shining Path, a Maoistguerrilla group.

表面來看，秘魯的群眾自衛組織經歷更為成功。70年代，該國安第斯北部Cajamarca省的群眾自衛組織對周邊起到了一種監視作用，處理偷牛及其他農村犯罪案件。在80年代和90年代的Ayacucho和 Apurimac 山村，在軍隊的支持下，這里成立了輕武裝農民自衛委員會，這對抵御光輝道路游擊隊，即毛派人游擊隊大有裨益。

Although the Shining Path has long since faded, the vigilantes are stronger than ever. In theApurimacvalley, they have turned into well-armed militias of coca growers. In Cajamarca therondas are now led by rural schoolteachers from a far-left party; they battle mining companiesand are the real power in the land, says Rubén Vargas, a security consultant.

雖然光輝道路游擊隊很久以前就衰弱，但自那以后群眾自衛組織的勢力日趨強大。在Apurimac山村，他們已成為武裝精良的古柯種植者。在卡哈馬卡，監視部隊如今受極左黨派的學校教師領導，安全顧問Rubén Vargas說，他們與礦業公司對抗，獨霸一方。

The common element in all three countries is the weakness of law enforcement in rural areas.That is what tempts governments and security forces to ally themselves with vigilantes. Thiscan bring short-term results against guerrillas or drug-traffickers, but in the long run it makesthings worse. As Mauricio Romero, a political scientist at Javeriana University in Bogota, pointsout, once vigilantes acquire coercive power, the temptation to use this for private ends—revenge attacks, drug-trafficking or other criminal activities—is simply too great.

三國的共同點在于農村法律缺位，這也是政府和安保部隊與自發群眾部隊聯合的原因。短期內，此舉有助于抗擊游擊部隊和毒品走私販，但長遠的境況只會江河日下。如Bogota Javeriana大學政治學家MauricioRomero所言，一旦這些自發部隊獲強制權，為己所用，從事復仇行動，毒品走私及其他犯罪行為的誘惑無從遏制。

The embryo of the monster is already implanted in the Tierra Caliente. The self-defence forcesturn out to have members with dubious pasts and the kind of weaponry—assault rifles andimprovised armoured cars—that is the trademark of narcos. They have split into warringfactions, and are imposing and ejecting mayors.

惡魔的胚芽已在Tierra Caliente植根，自衛軍中，部分人經歷可疑，裝備有突擊步槍類的武器以及拼湊而成的裝甲車—販毒的標志，他們分化成對立的小股部隊，欺壓和排擠市長。

Mr Pe?a entered office with one big new idea on security: speedily to set up a ruralgendarmerie of at least 40,000 troops, retrained as policemen, fromMexico's unnecessarily largearmy. By putting bodies on the ground and protecting the politicians and judges, this forcewould have been tailor-made for Tierra Caliente. But the army and state governors killed theplan. Instead, a much smaller gendarmerie of 5,000 civilian recruits will launch later this year.That seems too little, too late. For all its recent successes against drug kingpins, the politicaldefeat over the gendarmerie may come to haunt Mr Pe?a and his administration.

Pe?a總統懷揣著一個有關安全問題的宏偉想法走入辦公室，即加快步伐，從墨西哥的冗兵中抽調至少有40000人，建立一農村憲兵隊，作為警察發揮效用，抗擊威脅，保護政客法官，這支武裝力量對Tierra Caliente負責。但軍隊及州政府否決了這項計劃，他們將在今年年底通過平民招募成立一支遠遠要小的武裝，只有5000人來取而代之。此武裝似乎力量單薄，成立過晚. 考慮到它最近打擊毒梟的功績，Pe?a政府可能為憲兵隊上的政治失利耿耿于懷。

1.fail to 未能

例句:The movie's special effects fail to dazzle.

這部電影的特效未能出彩。

2.face with 面對

例句:He had an angular face with prominentcheekbones.

他的臉棱角分明，顴骨突出。

3.more than 超過

例句:He had notched up more than 25 victories worldwide.

他已贏得了超過25次國際級別賽事的勝利。

4.split into 分裂成

例句:Now if a great lake like Victoria were to dry up partially, it would be split into a number ofseparate, smaller lakes.

現在如果像維多利亞湖這樣的大湖部分干涸，它就會被分成若干獨立的小湖泊。