President Hugo Chavez Riding High With A Whopping 77% Approval Rating

 President Hugo Chavez Riding High With A Whopping 77% Approval Rating

Manorama Online (Malaysia) reports that  Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is riding high in the public approval ratings, while the country remains divided over the benefits of living in a socialist state, a survey published in newspapers has said.

A whopping 77% of those questioned approved of Chavez' handling of the presidency, while 53.5% view the situation in Venezuela positively, according to the survey by the private Venezuelan Institute of Analysis and Data.

The poll found that 40.3% have a negative outlook on the country's situation, 53.5% think it will improve in two years, 22% see no change while 23.7% expect it to deteriorate. As for living in a socialist state, 39.4% think it is good or very good, while 35.1% said it was bad or very bad.

Questioned about life in a capitalist state, respondents were evenly divided.

Chavez, a close ally of Cuban President Fidel Castro, said the poll results showed that Venezuelans were gaining more insight into his socialist policy.

"The polls say that the acceptance of my approach on the need to discuss and build a road toward socialism...each day this call is being better understood," the leftist leader said on his radio and television broadcast "Hello President."

The poll was conducted October 7-18 among 1,200 adults in the capital and major cities and has a margin of error of 2.37%.

Chavez rides high in public poll