波多黎各投票成为美国第51个州

    People living in the American territory of Puerto Rico have voted to become a U.S. state. However, the vote does not have the force of law.
    美国领地波多黎各的居民投票选择成为美国一个州。然而,这次投票不具法律效力。

    Only 23 percent of Puerto Rican voters took part in the referendum.
    只有23%的波多黎各选民参与了这次全民公投。

    Of those who did vote, about 500,000 chose statehood. About 7,500 chose independence and 6,700 voted to remain a territory.
    投票者中有大约50万人选择州地位,大约7500人主张独立,还有6700人投票选择继续作为美国领地。

    People who live on the Caribbean island are U.S. citizens, but they cannot vote in presidential elections. They have one congressional representative to the United States Congress who has limited voting rights.
    这个加勒比海岛的居民是美国公民,但是他们不能参与美国总统选举。他们在美国国会中有一位具有有限投票权的国会代表。

    The island also has its own legislature with a Senate and a House of Representatives.
    该岛也有自己由参议院和众议院组成的议会。

    The territory's governor Ricardo Rossello said of the vote, "In any democracy, the expressed will of the majority that participates in the electoral process always prevails."
    该领地总督里卡多·罗塞略(Ricardo Rossello)表示:“在任何一个民主国家,参与选举进程的大多数人表达的意愿总是占据上风。”

    Sunday's vote on the issue of statehood was the fifth of its kind.
    周日的这次投票是波多黎各第五次关于州地位问题的投票。

    People on the island also voted in 2012 to seek statehood.
    该岛居民在2012年也曾投票寻求美国州地位。

    Puerto Rico struggles with its financial problems
    波多黎各财政困难

    The vote took place as Puerto Rico seeks protection from its creditors who hold its large public debt.
    这次投票发生在波多黎各寻求承担了它们大量公共债务的债权人的保护的时候。

    Peter Hakim is a former president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a policy research group on the Americas. He said the vote is not too meaningful because of low participation.
    美洲政策研究组织美洲对话前主席彼得·哈基姆(Peter Hakim)表示,因为参与率低下,这次投票没有太大意义。

    He says competing political parties on the island have called for something other than statehood.
    他说,该岛上的竞争党派呼吁的不是州地位问题。

    The Popular Democratic Party wants Puerto Rico to remain a territory while the Puerto Rican Independence Party wants the island to become a separate country.
    人民民主党希望波多黎各维持领地地位,而波多黎各独立党希望该成为一个独立国家。

    Hakim says the vote takes place as the island faces a serious crisis.
    哈基姆表示,这次投票的发生正值该岛面临严重危机。

    "Puerto Rico's in the midst of a severe economic and, in many respects, social crisis with large-scale emigration toward the United States."
    他说:“波多黎各正值经济严峻时期,在很多方面也出现了向美国大规模移民的社会危机。

    He says poor supervision of the Puerto Rican economy and government is partly to blame for its economic situation.
    他说,波多黎各的经济和政府缺乏监管是其经济形势的原因之一。

    He says the island's current status is in, what he calls, the "undefined zone" in which it is neither a state nor a country.
    他说,该岛目前的状况是他所谓的“未确定地带”,既不是州也不是国家。

    "My guess in the end (is) that Puerto Rico would probably be better off if it did become a state."
    他说:“我猜到最后波多黎各如果确实成为一个州情况可能会更好。”

    Puerto Ricans do not pay federal income tax so the territory does not receive as much federal money as states do. But, the people do pay Social Security and some other U.S. taxes. This causes some people to believe that the island would be better off as a state.
    波多黎各不缴纳联邦所得税,所以该领地没有获得其它州那么多的联邦资金。但是,这里的人们缴纳社会保障和其它一些美国税种。这使得一些人认为该岛作为美国一个州会更好。

    However, Puerto Rico's debt crisis continues to harm its economic growth and ties to the U.S. The economy has been in recession for more than 10 years.
    然而,波多黎各的债务危机还在继续损害其经济增长以及同美国的联系。该岛经济已经衰退了十多年。

    Puerto Rico says it cannot pay back its more than $70 billion debt. The territory also owes its retirement payment plan, or pension, about $50 billion dollars.
    波多黎各表示,它们无法偿还七百多亿的债务。该领地还欠下了大约500亿美元的退休金。

    Last month, Governor Rosello refused to agree to measures demanded by creditors to make payments on the island's bonds. That started a process for Puerto Rico to seek legal protection from its creditors through a form of bankruptcy. However, the territory is barred from the kind of legal bankruptcy that U.S. cities and towns can seek.
    上个月,罗塞略总督拒绝同意债权人要求清偿该岛债券的措施。这让波多黎各开始了通过破产寻求其债权人法律保护的进程。然而,该领地不能获得美国城镇可以寻求的合法破产。

    It is unclear how long Puerto Rico's debt negotiations will take.
    波多黎各的债务谈判将会花费多长时间尚不清楚。

    I'm Mario Ritter.
    我是马里奥·里特。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利,未经授权请勿转载,违者必究!)