Opinion polls show that Venezuelans are growing tired of Chavismo

[Zorro]

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You can still find people who defend the achievements of Hugo Chávez’s 10 years in office as Venezuela’s head of state. Literacy, education, food subsidies for the poor and access to health services, they say, are areas in which the Chávez administration has visibly improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. But those who still see a champion in the president are dwindling in number as well as in enthusiasm.

A wide array of recent opinion polls suggests that Venezuelans might be getting tired of their omnipresent leader. Though Chávez’s grip on power is tighter than ever, the head of the Bolivarian revolution is losing his personal touch. According to Hinterlaces, three-in-five Venezuelans want the president to step down in 2012, when his current term expires. A different pollster shows that most people want Chávez to be either ousted in a recall referendum next year, or leave at the end of his current term, in 2012. The same poll reveals that only 39.8 per cent of Venezuelans would vote for Chávez in the next election.

Another series of indicators suggests that a new narrative is emerging to describe the Chávez administration that could harm the president’s permanence in power—which he will undoubtedly seek—come the 2012 election. A majority of respondents to an August poll say Chávez is really a dictator. Three-in-five Venezuelans told a different pollster that freedom of expression is not fully protected in the country, and a majority think the media operate with limited or no freedom at all. Most respondents to another survey said recently that the actions of the national government threaten Venezuela’s democracy.

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More at: http://www.angus-reid.com/analysis/view/venezuela_where_did_the_dream_go/

[Vidar]

1. What balderdash! That's why they keep electing him.

[ChangoLoa]

2. Back to the future?