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Oil Policies Boost Morales in Bolivia
- Support for Evo Morales increased dramatically this month in Bolivia, according to a poll by Apoyo, Opinión y Mercado. 81 per cent of respondents approve of their president's performance, up 13 points since April.
Morales—an indigenous leader—won the December 2005 presidential election as the candidate for the Movement to Socialism (MAS), with 53.72 per cent of the vote. He was officially sworn in on Jan. 22.
On May 1, Morales nationalized the South American country's oil and gas industry, after issuing a decree that calls for foreign energy companies to sign new operating contracts within 180 days, or leave Bolivia.
Yesterday, Morales issue an order to remove all military personnel from the country's oil facilities. The president commended the army for "taking part in a patriotic fashion in the nationalization of the hydrocarbon industry."
For four weeks, 56 different facilities were peacefully occupied by more than 3,000 soldiers.
Polling Data
Do you approve or disapprove of Evo Morales' performance as president?
May 2006 | Apr. 2006 | Mar. 2006 | |
Approve | 81% | 68% | 80% |
Disapprove | 15% | 23% | 12% |
No opinion | 4% | 9% | 8% |
Source: Apoyo, Opinión y Mercado
Methodology: Interviews with 1,014 Bolivian adults in La Paz, El Alto, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, conducted from May 8 to May 15, 2006. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.