By James Suggett
Venezuelanalysis.com
MÉRIDA, Venezuela — A national poll conducted between April 24 and May 2 by the Venezuelan Data Analysis Institute (IVAD) showed that 68.8% of Venezuelans believe the presidency of Hugo Chávez has been excellent, very good, or good, while 28.2% consider it to have been bad, very bad, or terrible.
Some 48.5% of respondents said their current opinion of the president is better than it was one year ago, while 37% said it is worse. Also, the general situation of the country was viewed favorably by 52.3% of Venezuelans, while 43.4% viewed it unfavorably.
The IVAD poll also showed that 43% of Venezuelans would prefer that pro-Chávez candidates prevail in the upcoming state and municipal elections, while 33.9% would opt for opposition candidates.
When asked whether they agree or disagree with the recent nationalizations carried out by the Chávez administration, 56% of respondents said they agreed with the nationalization of the cement industry, and 53% said they agreed with the nationalization of the steel company Sidor. 32% said they were against the cement nationalization, and 30.9% opposed the Sidor nationalization, according to IVAD.
With regard to the president’s international diplomacy, an IVAD poll conducted in the last week of March indicated that 61.3% of Venezuelans approved of Chávez’s actions at the March 7 Rio Group summit during which resolutions were reached regarding the Colombian attack on guerrilla forces in Ecuadorian territory.
Likewise, 76.7% opined that Venezuela should continue negotiating humanitarian hostage exchanges with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and 68.8% rejected a military solution to the conflict in Colombia, consistent with the policies of the Chávez administration.
So far this year, however, polls in Venezuela have produced remarkably contrasting results, depending on where the polling firm’s sympathies lie.
Perhaps the most widely respected among all recent polls is the 2007 annual survey of 18 Latin American countries conducted by the Chilean polling firm Latinobarometro, the results of which were released this past January.
According to Latinobarometro, 60% of Venezuelans approved of President Chávez`s job performance in 2007, and 61% approved of the Venezuelan government as a whole. Also, 59% of Venezuelans were either “very satisfied” or “pretty satisfied” with the functioning of democracy in their country, placing Venezuela second only to Uruguay.
The Latinobarometro poll also showed that 52% of Venezuelans said the economic situation in their country was either good or very good in 2007, and that 67% agreed that the state is capable of solving the nation’s problems.
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