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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，特朗普總統(tǒng)宣布要對(duì)委內(nèi)瑞拉“動(dòng)武” ——
a declaration that drew condemnation from American allies in the region,
該聲明引發(fā)了委內(nèi)瑞拉周邊盟友的強(qiáng)烈譴責(zé)，
but encouraged rebellious Venezuelan military officers to reach out to Washington once again.
卻也鼓動(dòng)了委內(nèi)瑞拉反叛軍官再次聯(lián)絡(luò)華盛頓。
“It was the commander in chief saying this now,” the former Venezuelan commander on the sanctions list said in an interview,
上文提到的委內(nèi)瑞拉制裁名單上的指揮官在接受采訪時(shí)說，“如今連總統(tǒng)也這么說了，”
speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals by the Venezuelan government.
但由于害怕委內(nèi)瑞拉政府報(bào)復(fù)，該指揮官拒絕透露自己的姓名。
“I’m not going to doubt it when this was the messenger.”
“出現(xiàn)這個(gè)信號(hào)，我是不會(huì)懷疑的。”
In a series of covert meetings abroad, which began last fall and continued this year,
在去年秋天開始，今年仍在繼續(xù)的一系列海外秘密會(huì)議中，
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.
軍官們告訴美國(guó)政府，他們代表的是數(shù)百名對(duì)馬杜羅的獨(dú)裁統(tǒng)治感到不滿的武裝部隊(duì)成員。
The officers asked the United States to supply them with encrypted radios,
他們要求美國(guó)為他們提供加密無線電，
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.
理由是制定在選舉前擁立臨時(shí)政府來管理國(guó)家的計(jì)劃期間，他們需要和美國(guó)進(jìn)行安全的溝通。
American officials did not provide material support,
但美國(guó)官員并沒有給他們提供物質(zhì)幫助，
and the plans unraveled after a recent crackdown that led to the arrest of dozens of the plotters.
他們的計(jì)劃最終還是暴露了，因?yàn)槲罱l(fā)動(dòng)了一次鎮(zhèn)壓活動(dòng)，逮捕了數(shù)十名策劃者。
Relations between the United States and Venezuela have been strained for years.
多年來，美國(guó)和委內(nèi)瑞拉兩國(guó)的關(guān)系一直十分緊張。
The two have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010.
自2010年以來，兩國(guó)一直沒有大使往來。
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，美國(guó)政府加強(qiáng)了對(duì)馬杜羅先生本人，他的副總統(tǒng)及其他政府高級(jí)官員在內(nèi)的委內(nèi)瑞拉高層的制裁。
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.
本文對(duì)秘密會(huì)談及之前的政策辯論的描述均來自對(duì)11位美國(guó)現(xiàn)任或前任官員以及上文提到的那位委內(nèi)瑞拉前指揮官的采訪。
He said at least three distinct groups within the Venezuelan military had been plotting against the Maduro government.
指揮官說，至少有三個(gè)委內(nèi)瑞拉軍隊(duì)集團(tuán)密謀推翻馬杜羅政府。
One established contact with the American government by approaching the United States Embassy in a European capital.
部分官員透露，其中一個(gè)集團(tuán)通過和位于某歐洲國(guó)家首都的美國(guó)大使館接洽與美國(guó)政府取得了聯(lián)系。
When this was reported back to Washington, officials at the White House were intrigued but apprehensive.
當(dāng)消息上報(bào)給華盛頓時(shí)，白宮的官員們既好奇又擔(dān)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.
他們擔(dān)心的是這次的見面要求可能是他們的伎倆，為的是秘密錄下美國(guó)官員謀反委內(nèi)瑞拉政府的證據(jù)。
But as the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela worsened last year,
然而，去年，隨著委內(nèi)瑞拉的人道主義危機(jī)逐漸惡化，
American officials felt that having a clearer picture of the plans and the men who aspired to oust Mr. Maduro was worth the risk.
美國(guó)官員認(rèn)識(shí)到，為了摸清委內(nèi)瑞拉叛變分子的叛變計(jì)劃以及具體的叛變?nèi)藛T，冒險(xiǎn)也值了。
“After a lot of discussion, we agreed we should listen to what they had to say,”
“經(jīng)過深思熟慮，我們一致認(rèn)為，我們應(yīng)該聽聽他們的辯解，”
said a senior administration official who was not authorized to speak about the secret talks.
一位無權(quán)透露秘密會(huì)談內(nèi)容的政府高級(jí)官員說到。
The administration initially considered dispatching Juan Cruz, a veteran Central Intelligence Agency official
政府最初打算資深的中央情報(bào)局官員派胡安·克魯茲去參加會(huì)面，
who recently stepped down as the White House’s top Latin America policymaker.
克魯茲最近辭去了白宮拉美事務(wù)最高長(zhǎng)官的職務(wù)。
But White House lawyers said it would be more prudent to send a career diplomat instead.
但白宮律師認(rèn)為派遣職業(yè)外交官過去更為謹(jǐn)慎。
The American envoy was instructed to attend the meetings “purely on listening mode,”
該高級(jí)官員還透露，美國(guó)派去的特使接到的指示是“純粹以旁聽模式”參加會(huì)議，
and was not authorized to negotiate anything of substance on the spot, according to the senior administration official.
無權(quán)當(dāng)場(chǎng)參與任何實(shí)質(zhì)性的協(xié)商事務(wù)。
After the first meeting, which took place in the fall of 2017,
在2017年秋季舉行的首次會(huì)議之后，
the diplomat reported that the Venezuelans didn’t appear to have a detailed plan
這位外交官匯報(bào)時(shí)說，那些委內(nèi)瑞拉人似乎并沒有具體的計(jì)劃，
and had showed up at the encounter hoping the Americans would offer guidance or ideas, officials said.
參加會(huì)面時(shí)還抱著美國(guó)人能給他們一些指導(dǎo)或者幫他們出主意的想法。
The former Venezuelan commander said that the rebellious officers never asked for an American military intervention.
那位前委內(nèi)瑞拉指揮官說，反叛的軍官?gòu)奈匆竺绹?guó)進(jìn)行軍事干預(yù)。
“I never agreed, nor did they propose, to do a joint operation,” he said.
他說：“我從未同意，軍官們也沒有提議與美軍聯(lián)合動(dòng)手。”
He claimed that he and his comrades considered striking last summer,
他聲稱，去年夏天，他和他的同志考慮過罷工，
when the government suspended the powers of the legislature and installed a new national assembly loyal to Mr. Maduro.
因?yàn)檎R時(shí)剝奪了立法機(jī)關(guān)的權(quán)力，又設(shè)立了一個(gè)效忠馬杜羅的新國(guó)民議會(huì)。
But he said they aborted the plan, fearing it would lead to bloodshed.
但他們擔(dān)心會(huì)引發(fā)流血事件就放棄了這個(gè)計(jì)劃。
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