He seized power audaciously in 1959 and commanded to the last a powerful personal following inside and outside Cuba.But during more than half a century in office Fidel Castro, who has died at the age of 90, metamorphosed from a popular and charismatic guerrilla leader into a traditional caudillo, an autocratic holdover from another age.
他在1959年大膽奪取了古巴政權(quán),此后終生享有國(guó)內(nèi)外追隨者的強(qiáng)大個(gè)人崇拜。但在半個(gè)多世紀(jì)的掌權(quán)期間,剛剛?cè)ナ馈⑾砟?0歲的菲德爾·卡斯特羅(Fidel Castro)從一個(gè)廣受歡迎、魄力非凡的游擊隊(duì)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人,淪為一個(gè)傳統(tǒng)的獨(dú)裁者,就像是從另一個(gè)時(shí)代穿越而來(lái)的威權(quán)遺物。
At his life's end, although bolstered by the emergence of a few new friends such as the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, he was assailed by foreign governments and human rights groups and spurned by many former supporters, including even his daughter.Yet Castro remained one of the most remarkable revolutionary figures of the 20th century.
在晚年,雖然出現(xiàn)了一些新朋友——如已故委內(nèi)瑞拉領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人烏戈·查韋斯——給他捧場(chǎng),但他受到了外國(guó)政府和人權(quán)組織的抨擊,而且被許多先前的支持者(甚至包括他的女兒)拋棄。即便如此,卡斯特羅仍是20世紀(jì)最值得一提的革命人物之一。
The slogan he coined and repeated in his later years, “socialism or death”, is a fitting epitaph for a stubborn and headstrong rebel turned statesman who swam with the current of history when it suited, but dared to fight it when it turned against him.As one of the longest serving national leaders of his time, first as prime minister and then as president, he nurtured his own legend, keeping even into old age his beard and olive-green uniform that had made him an instantly recognisable world figure.
對(duì)于這個(gè)固執(zhí)、任性的造反者出身的政治家,他晚年發(fā)明并不斷重復(fù)的口號(hào)“社會(huì)主義或死亡”是一句非常恰當(dāng)?shù)哪怪俱憽W鳛檎渭?,?dāng)歷史潮流順應(yīng)他時(shí),他便順流而動(dòng);而當(dāng)歷史潮流逆他而行時(shí),他敢于企圖阻擋。作為他那個(gè)時(shí)代掌權(quán)最久的國(guó)家領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人之一(先任總理,后任總統(tǒng)),他營(yíng)造了自己的傳奇,直到晚年還留著胡須,身穿橄欖綠制服,使他成為一眼即可認(rèn)出的世界人物。