South America's Leftist Presidents Take A Popularity Dive Amid Scandals, Economic Troubles

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http://www.ibtimes.com/south-americas-leftist-presidents-take-popularity-dive-amid-scandals-economic-1868016


This year has not been kind to South America’s leftist leaders. Polls released this week showed approval ratings at historic lows for the presidents of Chile and Brazil – and they’re not the only ones suffering setbacks these days.

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Elsewhere in South America, leftist leaders who surged to power in what was dubbed a “pink tide” in the region are falling out of favor quickly. Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, whose approval stands at around 25 percent, still is grappling with high inflation and shortages as anti-government protests have mounted in recent months. And Argentina’s President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner found herself in the middle of an international murder mystery this year with the death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who had accused her of covering up Iran’s alleged involvement in a 1994 terrorist attack in Buenos Aires. Her popularity sank to around 29 percent in February and has ticked back up to 36 percent in March, according to research company Management & Fit.

But some have remained strong: Uruguay’s Tabaré Vázquez, who assumed the presidency in March, has a 52 percent approval rating, according to an Equipos Mori survey released Wednesday. Meanwhile, Ecuador’s Rafael Correa and Bolivia’s Evo Morales remain the region’s most popular presidents – Correa’s approval rating stood at around 60 percent as of December, and Morales’ remains around 70 percent, despite his party suffering its most significant setback in years in regional elections this week.