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CH�?VEZ HAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOST POPULARITY

CH�?VEZ HAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOST POPULARITY AFTER CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM

Luis Vicente León, director of pollster Datanálisis, says that now the President is being blamed by the country’s problems

VIVIAN CASTILLO
EL UNIVERSAL (Caracas), 26 January 2008

A poll carried out by pollster Datanálisis the third week of December to measure the impact of the results of the December 2nd referendum on the changes to the Constitution championed by President Hugo Chávez reveals that the Venezuelan ruler has "significantly lost popularity."

Luis Vicente León, director of the pollster, did not reveal concrete figures, but explained that when he refers to the drop in Chávez's popularity, he means that the President has lost many points in comparison to previous surveys, but not that "he is destroyed."

At the forum "The Spirit of January 23rd now; 2008 Unitary Agenda", held last Saturday in the Ateneo de Caracas, he pointed out that no opposition leader in the country has been able to capitalize the points that have been lost by the President, who, despite this significant drop, is still ahead in the polls."

"The President's image has significantly deteriorated, based not only on the numbers, but because it is taking a declining path from which it will hardly recover."

He expressed, however, that regional leaders did capitalize on the President's electoral defeat on December 2, emerging stronger from this process and changing the way the people perceived them. León points out that no particular political party was favored, because the leaders that recovered popularity belong to different opposition organizations.

At the Forum organized by the civil association Ciudadanía Activa, Datanálisis director reiterates that the cost of the December defeat for Chávez is reflected not only in the polls, but in the fact that he became a "human being, he stepped down from the Olympus were he was standing and came back to earth, at the same level of any conventional leader, close to a people that understand that they can demand things from him if he wants to have their support back: security, proper supply levels, housing, etc."

"The people are beginning to reveal themselves, and to complicate more Chávez's political panorama, the issue now is not only the one referred to his defeat, but now he steps in the conventional political arena, an extremely important element because it represents a golden opportunity for the opposition."

He explained that the poll conducted from December 20th measured the impact of the leader's defeat, but also included the impact of the first Chávez's attacks against his followers, when he called traitors those who did not vote and told them that he was to continue to advance his proposal, even though they did not want to. "That was like a climax, when he told that 'the people was not prepared for the reform,' meaning that this was too much for them."

"The President did not understand and has not understood that Venezuela said "No" to the constitutional reform, because they perceived it as a radical proposal, which gave the State an excessive power to interfere and control."

Translated by Alix Hernández

By sloopskipper on Jan 26, 2008, 08:47 in Politics & the war.

catherine b says on Jan 26, 2008, 09:41:

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tasco66 says on Jan 26, 2008, 10:33:

It is no coincidence that with his public support in free fall, Chavez is looking for an imaginary foreign enemy that is supposed to be planning to invade Venezuela

Bravo, Presidente Uribe for the perfect operation!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

sloopskipper says on Jan 26, 2008, 11:05:

Photobucket

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