Thousands of anti-Chavez women bang pots and pans and carry posters of the President Hugo Chavez, sporting a Pinocchio nose, as they celebrate International Women's Day in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, March 8, 2002.(AP Photo/Fernando LLano)
Posted on 03/12/2002 12:25:23 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez's approval rating remained at a low of about 34 percent, according to a poll released Tuesday.
About 34 percent of Venezuelans evaluate Chavez's three-year government as "regular-to-good, good or very good," while 63 percent consider it "regular-to-bad, bad or very bad," according to the Feb. 22-26 Datanalisis poll.
A December Datanalisis poll found similar results.
The populist former paratrooper, whose popularity was about 60 percent this time last year, has faced mounting discontent over a flailing economy and high crime. Opponents have increasingly taken to the streets to demand that Chavez resign, claiming his verbal attacks on Catholic bishops, news media and business elite are fueling class divisions in the impoverished South American nation.
A slump in international oil prices has dampened hopes for quick economy recovery, according to Datanalisis director Luis Vicente Leon.
The February poll, however, demonstrated that Chavez's popularity is unlikely to decline further if a viable leader doesn't emerge from the splintered and discredited opposition, Leon said.
"The opposition will have problems. It is no longer inheriting the points Chavez is losing," said Leon. "It will have to present proposals and leaders."
The poll also found that about 64 percent of Venezuelans would vote Chavez out of office if a referendum on the matter were to take place today. About 35 percent would vote that Chavez should remain in office. Venezuela's constitution would allow for such a vote in two years.
More than half of those surveyed, however, said they disapproved of a nationwide, general labor strike to demand Chavez's ouster, a blow to opposition labor unions who are threatening such a move this month.
The door-to-door poll surveyed 1,000 people nationwide and had a margin of error of 3 percent.
Thousands of anti-Chavez women bang pots and pans and carry posters of the President Hugo Chavez, sporting a Pinocchio nose, as they celebrate International Women's Day in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, March 8, 2002.(AP Photo/Fernando LLano)
Women protest against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a march of thousands in Caracas March 8, 2002. Hundreds of executive and office staff of Venezuela's state oil firm PDVSA staged an unprecedented four-hour work stoppage, intensifying their protest against a government-ordered management overhaul. The temporary administrative stoppage is the strongest protest action to date by the PDVSA dissidents. REUTERS/Chico Sanchez
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez kisses a crying child in Caracas March 8, 2002. Hundreds of executive and office staff of Venezuela's state oil firm PDVSA protested during a four-hour work stoppage, intensifying their protest against a government-ordered management overhaul. The temporary administrative stoppage is the strongest protest action to date by the PDVSA dissidents. REUTERS/Kimberly White
Newsweek International: Nov 12, 2001 issue: Is Hugo Chavez Insane
Venezuelan Party Seeks to Remove Chavez for Madness
Protests, coup rumors in Venezuela (Mayor of Caracas Asks Catholic Church to Exorcise Chavez)
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez surrounded by soldiers marches during the commemoration for the 10th anniversary of his failed military coup at a military museum in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Feb. 4, 2002. (AP Photo/Gregorio Marrero)
I think he has many Clintonesque flaws.
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