委內瑞拉總統查韋斯病逝

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died after a long struggle with cancer. He was 58 years old.

查韋斯總統在和癌症長期鬥爭之後去世，終年58歲。

Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced the death on national television Tuesday. He urged the Venezuelan people to show strength and courage, and to be united and fulfill the expectations of the man he called "this great leader."

委內瑞拉副總統馬杜洛星期二在委內瑞拉全國電視臺上宣佈了這一消息。他呼籲委內瑞拉民衆展現出力量和勇氣，團結起來，完成查韋斯“這位偉大領導人”的期望。

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua has declared seven days of national mourning. He says says Mr. Chavez will lie in state at a military academy before a funeral Friday.

委內瑞拉外交部長豪阿宣佈全國舉行七天哀悼。他說，在星期五舉行葬禮之前，查韋斯的遺體將停放在一所軍事學院供公衆瞻仰。

President Chavez had been treated in Cuba for cancer before returning to Caracas last month. Officials say he came down with a severe infection after strong chemotherapy in a Caracas military hospital.

查韋斯上月返回委內瑞拉首都加拉加斯，此前他長時間在古巴接受治療。有關官員說，查韋斯在加拉加斯一家軍醫院接受強化化療之後，出現嚴重感染。

Mr. Chavez had cancer in his pelvis. He had not been seen in public since December and missed his inauguration for another term in January.

查韋斯患有骨盆癌。自去年12月以來，查韋斯一直沒有公開露面，也沒有出席他另一任在1月舉行的總統就職典禮。

Vice President Maduro accused Venezuela's enemies of attacking the president with cancer. He did not say how that could have been done.

星期二，委內瑞拉副總統馬杜洛指責委內瑞拉的敵人用癌症方式攻擊查韋斯。他沒有具體說明如何做到這一點。

Mr. Chavez, the son of school teachers, dreamed of becoming a major league baseball player in the U.S. but he opted for a career as an army paratrooper.

查韋斯父母都是學校教師。他曾經夢想當一名職業棒球隊員，但後來選擇做了傘兵。

He was jailed in 1992 for leading an unsuccessful coup against then-president Carlos Andres Perez and was elected to the office himself in 1998, promising to wipe out poverty and end corruption.

1992年，查韋斯由於領導發動推翻當時的委內瑞拉總統佩雷茲的政變失敗而坐牢。查韋斯1998年當選總統。競選期間，查韋斯誓言要掃除貧困，結束腐敗。

Mr. Chavez earned the enmity of the United States and much of the rest of Latin America for his socialist policies, nationalizing major companies, and courting such world leaders as Cuba's Fidel Castro, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.

查韋斯的一系列社會主義政策，包括將很多大公司國有化，引起美國和拉美許多國家的不滿。在擔任總統期間，查韋斯同國際間的一些領導人，諸如古巴的卡斯特羅、伊朗總統艾哈邁迪內賈德和利比亞的卡扎菲等，建立友好關係。

The opposition accused him of becoming a dictator. Millions of poor Venezuelans revered him for using the country's vast oil wealth to give them access to low-cost food, free medical care and other social programs.

反對派稱查韋斯是一位獨裁者。但是數百萬貧窮的民衆尊敬他，因爲查韋斯使用國家巨大的石油財富讓他們得到廉價的食品，可以免費看病，以及使用其他一些社會計劃。

Also Tuesday, Venezuela expelled two U.S. diplomats, accusing them of meeting with military officers and plotting to destabilize the government.

另一方面，委內瑞拉星期二驅逐了兩名美國外交官，指控他們會見委內瑞拉現役軍官以密謀顛覆政府。

The two diplomats are air attaches -- U.S. Air Force officers who are stationed in the embassy.

這兩名美國外交官是美國駐委內瑞拉大使館的空軍武官。