mientras mayor era su poderío

English translation: when their influence was peaking

23:50 Jul 27, 2015
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Media / Multimedia / Current events
Spanish term or phrase: mientras mayor era su poderío
Hi, all,
This is from an editorial in a Mexican periodical about the history leading up to the recent thaw in Cuba-US relations. The whole sentence is: "De reconocer a China y Rusia su amistad y solidaridad con Cuba **mientras mayor era su poderío** y más se consolidaba la multipolaridad; como a todos los gobiernos que han votado en la ONU durante 17 años contra el bloqueo."
I think the "mientras" also goes with the next phrase, making it "mientras... más se consolidaba la multipolaridad"
I think the basic sense of the phrase is "however great their power was"; but I'm having a hard time putting that together with the rest of the sentence (which is actually not a sentence, I guess, but a verbal phrase, using the infinitive as we in English would use the present participle?). The second phrase is also a bit of a puzzle to me: "however much the multipolarity was consolidated"?
Any help greatly appreciated.
Tom
Thomas Walker
United States
Local time: 00:25
English translation:when their influence was peaking
Explanation:
I think that in this case the word "mientras" is used as a synonym for "cuando", so the translation would be something like "when their influence was peaking and the multipolarity grew stronger".

Keep in mind that "poderío" can mean "wealth" as well, but I would go with "influence" in this context (or maybe "power"), because I think it's not only a matter of which country has more money.
Selected response from:

Roberto Martínez
Spain
Local time: 08:25
Grading comment
Thanks, Roberto. The idea of "their influence was peaking" was right on the money, I think. I ended up using "when their influence was at its peak".
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4when their influence was peaking
Roberto Martínez
4The greater their power/might was
Francois Boye
Summary of reference entries provided
Context
philgoddard

Discussion entries: 7





  

Answers


48 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
when their influence was peaking


Explanation:
I think that in this case the word "mientras" is used as a synonym for "cuando", so the translation would be something like "when their influence was peaking and the multipolarity grew stronger".

Keep in mind that "poderío" can mean "wealth" as well, but I would go with "influence" in this context (or maybe "power"), because I think it's not only a matter of which country has more money.

Roberto Martínez
Spain
Local time: 08:25
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks, Roberto. The idea of "their influence was peaking" was right on the money, I think. I ended up using "when their influence was at its peak".
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7 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
The greater their power/might was


Explanation:
my take

Francois Boye
United States
Local time: 03:25
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
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Reference comments


45 mins peer agreement (net): +1
Reference: Context

Reference information:
I think the previous sentence explains "multipolaridad", though you should really post that as a separate question.


    Reference: http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2015/07/23/opinion/025a1mun
philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 23

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Blanca Collazo
1 hr
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