金融时报:西班牙前首相苏亚雷斯

西班牙前首相苏亚雷斯

近日宣布退位的西班牙国王胡安·卡洛斯以挫败政变、推动了西班牙的民主转型而著称，而这幕后的重要人物，是在今年逝世的西班牙第一位民选首相阿道弗·苏亚雷斯。来了解一下这位深刻塑造了今天的西班牙的人物吧。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

dukedom ['dju:kdəm] 公爵爵位

bombastic [bɒm'bæstɪk] 言过其实的

state prosecutor 国家公诉人

Castilian [kæ'stiljən] 卡斯蒂利亚的，卡斯蒂利亚即西班牙王国的主体

bullfighter ['bul,faitə] 斗牛士

Madrid Bar Associatio 这里的bar是律师业的意思

echelon ['eʃəlɒn; 'eɪʃ-] 梯队，阶层

protégé[ˈprɒtəʒeɪ] 门徒

abortive [ə'bɔːtɪv] 失败的，流产的

Spain's first freely elected premier after Franco era dies at 81 (821 words)

By Marc Rattray ，March 23, 2014 10:16 pm

Adolfo Suárez, who has died aged 81, drove through Spain's peaceful transition to democracy after 41 years of dictatorship under Franco.

After setting up a new party, the Unión de Centro Democratico, he was elected as the newly liberated country's first freely elected prime minister in 1977 and was re-elected for a second term in office in 1979. In 1981, some months after his resignation, he won the admiration of the world by standing up and arguing with a pistol-waving member of the civil guard, who stormed parliament in a vain attempt at a coup d'état. He was the only parliamentarian, with the exception of Lt Gen Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado and the Communist leader Santiago Carrillo, who refused to lie down and take cover when the guardsmen began firing on live television. Shortly afterwards, he was awarded a dukedom by the king.

Described by Felipe González, a Socialist successor, as a “clever man without an ideology”, he proved particularly adept at dismantling the key aspects of Franco's administration, having himself risen through its ranks in his early career. It was he who piloted through a new constitution, legalised trade unions and delicately depoliticised the armed forces by dismissing fascist politicians and generals. It was on his orders that the dismantling of the Cortes was approved, the body which prepared, elaborated and approved laws in Spain. And it was he who offered, to the disgust of many in the ancien regime, full political rights to the Communist party. His office saw the introduction of a new style of politics, which replaced the bombastic and threatening style of Franco's regime with a new willingness to listen.

Adolfo Suárez González, one of five children of a state prosecutor, was born in 1932 in Cebreros, a Castilian village of 5,000 inhabitants near Avila. His family was drawn from the comfortable middle classes and were strongly Catholic in an area of Spain well known for its religious feeling. A handsome young man, his faith was sufficiently strong to make many of the young women in his village concerned that he would one day become a priest. Instead, after a brief stint as an amateur bullfighter, he enrolled at Salamanca University and later joined the Madrid Bar Association.

A chance meeting then occurred that would change his life. He met Fernando Herrero Tejedor, one of the grandees of Franco's regime. Although drawn from the higher echelons of the government, Tejedor was by no means a hardline conservative. As a member of Opus Dei, he was also proudly Catholic and Suárez became his protégé.

Suárez was able to find his first steps on the sprawling apparatus of Franco's regime through Tejedor. Despite showing little commitment to the fascist doctrine he was able to rise through the ranks of the administration by becoming close to the right people. He was also extremely able and hardworking. By 1969, he had become head of television, where he was careful to apply the restraints on the media that high-ranking army officers required.

His new position formed the basis of a later alliance with the king. Instead of informing Juan Carlos, who was then a prince, of the latest government position on a programme, he consulted him and the two men formed a bond. After Franco's death in 1975, and against all expectation that the king would choose someone so young, Suárez was appointed the interim prime minister.

Suárez's looks, youth and anonymous background made him an attractive symbol of a new Spain. An eminently practical man, he was able to view dispassionately the practical consequences of different ideologies. Critically, he was not swayed by the familiar demons of Marxism, republicanism and nationalism and managed to steer an even course to democracy in an uneasy political climate.

Undoubtedly benefiting from his interim role, he won Spain's first democratic election of the post-fascist era in 1977 at the head of the UCD. He had formed the party just two months before the elections and it was bound together by little more than a will to be in power and Suárez's personality.

Despite protracted recessions and the constant thorn of Basque terrorism in the side of the newly formed government, democracy brought economic benefits to Spain. Large international companies such as Ford and General Motors invested billions of dollars in the country. Political stability brought with it the base of a later, more sustained economic growth that accompanied a maturing, liberalised Spain.

Suárez, who is survived by four of his five children, resigned from the premiership and the leadership of the UCD amid party infighting in 1981. He had objected to its move from the centre to the right. After an abortive attempt to bring to power a second party, the Centro Democrático y Social, he bowed out of party politics for good in 1991.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What happened the earliest in Suarez's life?

A.Knowing the liberal-minded high-ranking officer Tejedor.

B.Serving as a state prosecutor.

C.Meeting the King Juan Carlos.

D.Working as a amateur bullfighter briefly.

答案(1)

2.What do we know about Suarez and the famous coup d'état?

A.Suarez was the target of assasination of the coup soldiers.

B.Suarez was one of the three people who dared to confront the soldiers.

C.Suarez talked to the rebels and persuaded them to lay down the guns.

D.Suarez used this as an excuse to dismiss fascist politicians and generals.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following is not what he had done to democratize Spain?

A.He dismantled Franco's administration.

B.He announced the Communist party illegal.

C.He legalized trade unions and party movements.

D.He piloted Spain to a new constitution.

答案(3)

4.What might be the best description of PM Adolfo Suarez?

A.Loyal.

B.Religious.

C.Practical.

D.Eccentric.

答案(4)

* * *

(1)答案：D.Working as a amateur bullfighter briefly.

解释：苏亚雷斯早年的趣闻：家乡的姑娘们怕他去当牧师，但他做了一段时间的业余斗牛士后上大学当律师去了。之后是结识Tejedor，然后被引见给卡洛斯王子。这就是时间轴上一半的事件了。

(2)答案：B.Suarez was one of the three people who dared to confront the soldiers.

解释：ACD都很像是电影中自然而然的情节，但文中无据可循。细心的话你会注意到1981年政变的时候苏亚雷斯已经辞职了。

(3)答案：B.He announced the Communist party illegal.

解释：弗朗哥政权的一大国策就是反共，苏亚雷斯不顾守旧派的反对将西班牙共产党的活动合法化。

(4)答案：C.Practical.

解释：文中不止一次提到他的这一特点，继任他的首相评价说他是“clever man without an ideology”，倒数第四段提到他没有陷入各种主义之间的漩涡，他组建了一个没有明确意识形态的松散政党，以及他最后彻底退出政坛等，都是重要论据。看到这些独立的故事的时候，你需要考虑它们放在一起是体现了主人公什么样的特点或品质。