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Sentence of the twentieth century: PAREDON PARA LOS VENCIDOS (Fidel Castro, Former CIO of the Dictatorship established in 1959 in the beautiful Island of Cuba where there are only two prisons, one in Guantanamo and the other in the rest of the Island – the only difference between the penitentiaries is that in Guantanamo the inmates have what to eat and, outside Guantanamo, only the friends of the Castro brothers can eat a minimum of 2,000 calories per day).

In English: EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUAD FOR THE DEFEATED or
EXECUTION BY SHOOTING FOR THE DEFEATED or
FUSILLADING FOR THE DEFEATED.

Execution by firing squad, sometimes called fusillading (from the French fusil, rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war.

Execution by shooting is a fairly old practice. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are usually readily available and a gunshot to a vital organ usually kills the prisoner relatively quickly. Before the introduction of firearms, bows or crossbows were often used — Saint Sebastian is usually depicted as executed by a squad of Roman auxiliary archers.

A firing squad is usually composed of several soldiers or law enforcement officers. Usually, all members of the group are instructed to fire simultaneously, thus preventing both disruption of the process by a single member and identification of the member who fired the lethal shot. The prisoner is typically blindfolded or hooded, as well as restrained, although in some cases prisoners have asked to be allowed to face the firing squad without their eyes covered. Executions can be carried out with the condemned either standing or sitting. There is a tradition in some jurisdictions that such executions are carried out at first light, or at sunrise, which is usually up to half an hour later. This gave rise to the phrase "shot at dawn", which has become particularly associated with the campaign (see below) to achieve a pardon for British servicemen shot after being convicted of cowardice in World War I.

Execution by firing squad is distinct from other forms of execution by firearms, such as an execution by a single firearm to the back of the head or neck (as in China, a communist country). However, the single shot (coup de grâce) is sometimes incorporated in a firing squad execution, particularly if the initial volley turns out not to be immediately fatal (from Wikipedia).

Extreme irony: had the Brazilian Military Government, which ruled our “Heimat Land” during the wrongly named “years of lead”, followed Fidel Castro’s motto, we would not have a woman holding the office of President of Brazil, from January 2011 on, neither a governor from the Workers’ party for the next four years. So, next time you feel like referring to the period of 1964 to 1985 as THE LEAD YEARS, think it over. We have had for the last eight years and will have for the next four years a socialist government in Brazil thanks to the heroes of 1964.

Grammar: IF clauses (conditional sentences).

In English, there are three types of conditional clauses that are indispensable for you to get acquainted with. They are the following:
• the type that refers to a future situation (#1),
• the type that refers to a present situation (#2),
• The type that refers to a situation in the past (#3).

Example of situation #1: (future situation): If our representatives maintain the legislation that forces us to vote even when we do not have a candidate in whom we trust, I will submit myself to paying the respective fine in 2012.

• Another example: If I have money, I will buy that car next month.

• Another example of situation #1; If I do not have money, I will not buy that car next month.

Example of situation #2: (present situation):

If I had enough money now, I would spend the next four years in Russia, where socialism has already been properly buried.

• Another example of situation # 2: If our representatives had guts, they would summon an exclusive constituent assembly in order to produce the necessary conditions for our country to enter the 21st century.

• Another example of situation # 2: If she knew the truth, she would not marry him.

Next week we will talk about the third situation and compare it with situations # 1 and # 2.

Have a nice weekend.

Roberto Henry Ebelt é professor, escritor, produz uma coluna semanal para o Jornal do Comércio de Porto Alegre deste 2001 e é diretor do curso HENRY'S BUSINESS ENGLISH desde 1971.

Seu mais recente livro, O QUE VOCÊ DEVE SABER ANTES DE ESTUDAR INGLÊS, pode ser encontrado nas livrarias Disal, Cultura e SBS ou à rua Hoffmann, 728 em Porto Alegre.

E-mail: roberto@henrys.com.br
Fone (51) 3222-3144
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