El Salvador president enjoys nearly 90% approval

[Judi Lynn]

El Salvador president enjoys nearly 90% approval
2010-01-07 11:30:18

MEXICO CITY, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- A total of 87.9 percent of Salvadorians said they were satisfied with the performance of their president Mauricio Funes, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

According to news reaching here, polling firm JBS Opinion Publica found that 54.2 percent of Salvadorians described Funes' performance as "good," 17.7 percent said it had been "very good" and 16 percent rated him as "excellent."

A total of 1,206 people were consulted in the survey, which was commissioned by Salvadorian daily El Diaro de Hoy between Dec. 26 and Dec. 30.

More than 37 percent of those polled said Funes, the nation's first left-wing president who took office on June 1, 2009, was fulfilling his campaign promises and a further 20.6 percent said he was changing the nation for the better.

More:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/07/content_12770059.htm

[Peace Patriot]

1. 87.9% approval rating. "changing the nation for the better." Look out, Mauricio!

Better sleep with your clothes on and your shoes on, for that late-night flight to Costa Rica!

:sarcasm:

Mel Zelaya had an equally impressive approval rating. After he was exiled at gunpoint, by a rightwing military coup, it stood at 67% (Oct. '09). Not sure what it was before, but since he was pursuing righteous policies like doubling the minimum wage, I presume it was at least that if not higher.

Read an article last week that one of the golpistas gave Pepe Lobo--the rightwing winner of the martial law 'election' in Honduras--a set of pyjamas for his birthday. Har-har.

And it's interesting how that event already seems to have produced some intimidation in El Salvador. Funes this week decided against El Salvador joining ALBA--the trade group of small countries organized by Venezuela, as an alternative to U.S.-imposed "free trade for the rich" and to give them some collective clout in dealing with U.S. corpo-fascist threats and bullying. It was already producing significant benefits for poor workers in Honduras--such as lowered bus ticket prices due to cheap oil from Venezuela. The Honduran junta has looted the ALBA funds (to which labor union members had contributed) and just withdrew from ALBA, ending all benefits. I thought this was quite curious. They have a new president-elect, whom they would like the world to accept (despite the extremely unfair election conditions), and he is about to be inaugurated, but they couldn't wait on such a big policy decision (one that had been passed by the national legislature), and let the new president and the new legislature consider the matter? Their action points to one of the root purposes of the coup--to re-impose U.S. "free trade for the rich" (pittance wages, miserable working conditions, no rights) on Honduras and on any other uppity countries whose leaders insist on decent wages for their people and on their country's sovereignty.

Funes apparently got the "message."

Maybe the pyjamas to Pepe wasn't a "gag gift" at all--but more like finding a horse's head on your pillow.

[EFerrari]

3. No kidding. n/t

[Vidar]

2. Recommended. Time for a CIA financed coup, no doubt.

[flamingdem]

4. Let's hear this positive news from NYT or CNN and not just Xinhuanet

Props to the struggle of the Salvadoran people, they've been through too much.