古巴全国停电：特朗普"断了"古巴的石油

古巴是一个国家，不太大，离美国不远。

Cuba is a country, not very big, not far from the US.

现在，古巴很不好。

Right now, Cuba is in a bad way.

晚上，很多地方，都是黑的。

At night, many places are dark.

家里没有电，外面也没有电。

There's no power at home, and none outside either.

古巴，怎么没有电了？

Cuba — how did it lose its power?

因为古巴，没有石油了。

Because Cuba has run out of oil.

这个月，古巴全国停电，就有两次了。

This month, Cuba has had two nationwide blackouts already.

今年到现在，一共停了四次。

So far this year, there have been four in all.

一停电，古巴的晚上，都是黑的。

Whenever the power goes, Cuba's nights fall dark.

发电要用石油，没有石油，就发不了电。

Generating power needs oil; without oil, no power can be made.

古巴自己的石油不多，很多石油要从别的国家买。

Cuba has little oil of its own; much of it must be bought from other countries.

可是现在，古巴买不到石油了。

But right now, Cuba can no longer buy oil.

这里，就要说到美国和特朗普了。

Here's where the US and Trump come in.

今年年初，特朗普不让别的国家，把石油卖给古巴。

Early this year, Trump barred other countries from selling oil to Cuba.

他说，谁卖石油给古巴，美国就对谁收很高的税。

He said: whoever sells oil to Cuba, the US will hit with steep tariffs.

很多国家怕美国，就不敢卖了。

Many countries, afraid of the US, stopped daring to sell.

以前，有一个叫委内瑞拉的国家，一直帮古巴。

In the past, a country called Venezuela had long helped Cuba.

可是后来，特朗普也对委内瑞拉出手了。

But later, Trump moved against Venezuela too.

委内瑞拉自己也顾不上了，就不再给古巴石油。

Venezuela, unable to fend for itself, stopped giving Cuba oil.

就这样，古巴的石油，越来越少，最后一点也没有了。

And so Cuba's oil dwindled, until finally there was none left.

从今年年初到现在，只有一艘俄罗斯的大船，给古巴送来过一次石油。

From early this year until now, only one Russian ship has delivered oil to Cuba, once.

其实，古巴的电网也很老了，很多都是几十年前的东西，本来就常常出问题。

In fact, Cuba's power grid is old too — much of it decades old, already prone to failing.

现在再没有了石油，就更是雪上加霜。

Now, with no oil either, it's misfortune piled on misfortune.

更让人担心的，是古巴人的生活。

What's more worrying is the lives of ordinary Cubans.

古巴很热，可是没有电，家里连风扇都开不了。

Cuba is very hot, but with no power, people can't even run a fan at home.

更严重的是医院。

More serious still are the hospitals.

医院没有电，很多病人，就很危险。

Without power, many patients are in danger.

没有电，冰箱不能用，很多药就坏了。

Without power, refrigerators can't run, so many medicines spoil.

没有电，水也送不上来，有的人家里，连干净的水都没有。

Without power, water can't be pumped up either, and some homes have no clean water at all.

联合国的人说：因为没有药，一些孩子，正在死去。

A UN official said: because of the lack of medicine, some children are dying.

这句话，听着让人很难过。

It's a heartbreaking thing to hear.

一个普通的古巴人，其实什么也没做错，只是想过普通的日子。

An ordinary Cuban has done nothing wrong — they just want to live an ordinary life.

那么，特朗普为什么要这样做呢？

So why is Trump doing this?

古巴很多年来，都和美国合不来。

For many years, Cuba and the US haven't gotten along.

特朗普想：如果古巴一直没有电，日子过不下去，古巴人可能就会想换一个政府。

Trump figures: if Cuba stays without power and life becomes unbearable, Cubans may want to change their government.

所以，他想用这个办法，来逼古巴。

So he's using this to pressure Cuba.

但是很多人说，用这种办法，最后最难过的，是普通的古巴人。

But many say that with such tactics, the ones who suffer most in the end are ordinary Cubans.

面对这么大的压力，古巴一直在想办法。

Under such heavy pressure, Cuba has kept looking for solutions.

它开始做一些新的改革，也从中国买了很多太阳能的东西，想用太阳来发电。

It has begun some new reforms and bought a lot of solar equipment from China, hoping to generate power from the sun.

但是这些，都要很长的时间。

But all of this takes a long time.

在这段时间里，古巴人，只能在黑暗和高温里，一天一天地过。

In the meantime, Cubans can only get through, day by day, in the dark and the heat.

好，今天我们知道了古巴发生的事。

Okay, today we've learned what's happening in Cuba.

希望古巴人，能早一点走出这个难关。

We hope Cubans can get through this hardship soon.