COPA OPENS

The South America Football Tournament, the COPA America, has kicked off in Colombia after weeks of uncertainty over whether the tournament would go ahead because of security concerns. The tournament was briefly suspended because of the threat of violence from rebel guerrillas, which resulted in the withdrawal of the favorite, Argentina. Ecuador and Chile have finished playing the first match, with Chile winning 4-1 in an enthralling game. I spoke to our correspondent in the Colombian capital, Bogata, Jeremy McDermott, and asked him if there were any security problems at that game.

Jeremy McDermott : No, no, it all went ahead without a hitch. Security has been heavy and it will be heavy throughout the tournament as the Colombian President, Andres Pastrana, has guaranteed that he can ensure that all the matches go without any threats to the players or to the spectators.

How? he going to do that?

McDermott: Well, it’s a very good question. He’s put an enormous amount of police in the cities where the matches are being held and army cordons around the cities. The guerrillas, Marxist guerrillas, have said they’re not going to interfere and the right-wing paramilitaries have said that they express no interest in disrupting the games, but there have been car bombs in the cities in recent weeks and the security forces are very nervous.

And those measures haven’t reassured, Argentina, for example?

McDermott: No, Argentina pulled out yesterday which has caused a great furor here in Colombia. Indeed, they were due to play in the city of Medillin. The mayor of Medellin is thinking of suing the Argentineans for disrupting the tournament.

And can they maintain that level of security for two and a half weeks throughout the country?

McDermott: Well, they believe so, and if the major warring factions, that’s the paramilitaries and the guerrillas, have said they’re not going to disrupt the games then the security forces only have to defend themselves against terrorist incidents. So, we’re all hoping, and Colombia’s very much hoping that things go ahead as planned.

难点注释：

enthralling: v. 使服从

hitch: n. 套住，这里指“障碍”

cordons: n. 警戒线

paramilitaries: n. 准军事力量，即只有轻型装备的小型部队。

furor: n. 骚动

参考译文： 

美洲杯，经过了几个星期因安全问题而造成的挫折后，终于在哥伦比亚开球了。由于受到叛乱游击队的暴力威胁，本届比赛曾被取消，从而也导致了广大球迷喜爱的阿根廷队的退出。在已经结束的激动人心的揭幕战中，智利队以4:1战胜了厄瓜多尔队。我与在哥伦比亚首都波哥大的记者杰里梅·迈克德姆特通了话，并问他在那场比赛中是否存在安全问题。

迈克德姆特：没有，没有。一切顺利。安全措施很严密，整个杯赛期间都会如此，哥伦比亚总统安德列斯·帕斯特拉纳已作出了庄重承诺，在比赛期间，运动员和观众都不会受到任何威胁。

他会采取什么措施呢？

迈克德姆特：这个问题提得好。他在有赛事的各个城市都投入了大量警力，城市四周也布满了警戒军队。游击队已表示他们不会干扰比赛。右翼准军事势力也表示他们对破坏比赛不感兴趣。但近几个星期以来，好几个赛区城市发生了汽车爆炸事件，保安人员保持高度紧张。

但这些措施并不能让所有国家感到放心，例如阿根廷。

迈克德姆特：是的,阿根廷昨天的退出在哥伦比亚引起强烈反响。实际上，他们本来被安排在麦德林市比赛，麦德林市市长正考虑起诉阿根廷破坏比赛。

他们能够在全国范围内两个半星期都能保持同样程度的警戒状态吗？

迈克德姆特：他们认为可以。因为主要的交战势力，也就是说，右翼准军事势力和游击队已说过不会破坏比赛，安全人员主要是防备恐怖分子活动。我们所有人，尤其是哥伦比亚都希望一切都能如期顺利地进行。