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Then in August of last year, President Trump declared that the United States had a “military option” for Venezuela —
去年8月，特朗普总统宣布要对委内瑞拉“动武” ——
a declaration that drew condemnation from American allies in the region,
该声明引发了委内瑞拉周边盟友的强烈谴责，
but encouraged rebellious Venezuelan military officers to reach out to Washington once again.
却也鼓动了委内瑞拉反叛军官再次联络华盛顿。
“It was the commander in chief saying this now,” the former Venezuelan commander on the sanctions list said in an interview,
上文提到的委内瑞拉制裁名单上的指挥官在接受采访时说，“如今连总统也这么说了，”
speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals by the Venezuelan government.
但由于害怕委内瑞拉政府报复，该指挥官拒绝透露自己的姓名。
“I’m not going to doubt it when this was the messenger.”
“出现这个信号，我是不会怀疑的。”
In a series of covert meetings abroad, which began last fall and continued this year,
在去年秋天开始，今年仍在继续的一系列海外秘密会议中，
the military officers told the American government that they represented a few hundred members of the armed forces who had soured on Mr. Maduro’s authoritarianism.
军官们告诉美国政府，他们代表的是数百名对马杜罗的独裁统治感到不满的武装部队成员。
The officers asked the United States to supply them with encrypted radios,
他们要求美国为他们提供加密无线电，
citing the need to communicate securely, as they developed a plan to install a transitional government to run the country until elections could be held.
理由是制定在选举前拥立临时政府来管理国家的计划期间，他们需要和美国进行安全的沟通。
American officials did not provide material support,
但美国官员并没有给他们提供物质帮助，
and the plans unraveled after a recent crackdown that led to the arrest of dozens of the plotters.
他们的计划最终还是暴露了，因为委政府最近发动了一次镇压活动，逮捕了数十名策划者。
Relations between the United States and Venezuela have been strained for years.
多年来，美国和委内瑞拉两国的关系一直十分紧张。
The two have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010.
自2010年以来，两国一直没有大使往来。
After Mr. Trump took office, his administration increased sanctions against top Venezuelan officials, including Mr. Maduro himself, his vice president and other top officials in the government.
特朗普上任后，美国政府加强了对马杜罗先生本人，他的副总统及其他政府高级官员在内的委内瑞拉高层的制裁。
The account of the clandestine meetings and the policy debates preceding them is drawn from interviews with 11 current and former American officials, as well as the former Venezuelan commander.
本文对秘密会谈及之前的政策辩论的描述均来自对11位美国现任或前任官员以及上文提到的那位委内瑞拉前指挥官的采访。
He said at least three distinct groups within the Venezuelan military had been plotting against the Maduro government.
指挥官说，至少有三个委内瑞拉军队集团密谋推翻马杜罗政府。
One established contact with the American government by approaching the United States Embassy in a European capital.
部分官员透露，其中一个集团通过和位于某欧洲国家首都的美国大使馆接洽与美国政府取得了联系。
When this was reported back to Washington, officials at the White House were intrigued but apprehensive.
当消息上报给华盛顿时，白宫的官员们既好奇又担心。
They worried that the meeting request could be a ploy to surreptitiously record an American official appearing to conspire against the Venezuelan government, officials said.
他们担心的是这次的见面要求可能是他们的伎俩，为的是秘密录下美国官员谋反委内瑞拉政府的证据。
But as the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela worsened last year,
然而，去年，随着委内瑞拉的人道主义危机逐渐恶化，
American officials felt that having a clearer picture of the plans and the men who aspired to oust Mr. Maduro was worth the risk.
美国官员认识到，为了摸清委内瑞拉叛变分子的叛变计划以及具体的叛变人员，冒险也值了。
“After a lot of discussion, we agreed we should listen to what they had to say,”
“经过深思熟虑，我们一致认为，我们应该听听他们的辩解，”
said a senior administration official who was not authorized to speak about the secret talks.
一位无权透露秘密会谈内容的政府高级官员说到。
The administration initially considered dispatching Juan Cruz, a veteran Central Intelligence Agency official
政府最初打算资深的中央情报局官员派胡安·克鲁兹去参加会面，
who recently stepped down as the White House’s top Latin America policymaker.
克鲁兹最近辞去了白宫拉美事务最高长官的职务。
But White House lawyers said it would be more prudent to send a career diplomat instead.
但白宫律师认为派遣职业外交官过去更为谨慎。
The American envoy was instructed to attend the meetings “purely on listening mode,”
该高级官员还透露，美国派去的特使接到的指示是“纯粹以旁听模式”参加会议，
and was not authorized to negotiate anything of substance on the spot, according to the senior administration official.
无权当场参与任何实质性的协商事务。
After the first meeting, which took place in the fall of 2017,
在2017年秋季举行的首次会议之后，
the diplomat reported that the Venezuelans didn’t appear to have a detailed plan
这位外交官汇报时说，那些委内瑞拉人似乎并没有具体的计划，
and had showed up at the encounter hoping the Americans would offer guidance or ideas, officials said.
参加会面时还抱着美国人能给他们一些指导或者帮他们出主意的想法。
The former Venezuelan commander said that the rebellious officers never asked for an American military intervention.
那位前委内瑞拉指挥官说，反叛的军官从未要求美国进行军事干预。
“I never agreed, nor did they propose, to do a joint operation,” he said.
他说：“我从未同意，军官们也没有提议与美军联合动手。”
He claimed that he and his comrades considered striking last summer,
他声称，去年夏天，他和他的同志考虑过罢工，
when the government suspended the powers of the legislature and installed a new national assembly loyal to Mr. Maduro.
因为政府临时剥夺了立法机关的权力，又设立了一个效忠马杜罗的新国民议会。
But he said they aborted the plan, fearing it would lead to bloodshed.
但他们担心会引发流血事件就放弃了这个计划。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
