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Support for Calderón Surges in Mexico
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Mexican president Felipe Calderón gained support last month, according to a poll by Consulta Mitofsky. 65 per cent of respondents agree with the way Calderón is governing, up ten points since February.
Mexican voters chose their new president in July 2006. Official results placed Felipe Calderón of the National Action Party (PAN) as the winner with 36.68 per cent of all cast ballots, followed by Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) with 36.11 per cent. Calderón—a former energy secretary—took over as Mexico's head of state in December.
Since January, Calderón has placed more than 3,300 soldiers in northern areas as part of a crackdown against organized crime and drug trafficking operations. Violence related to drug trafficking has been considered as one of the president's main challenges during his six-year term.
Drug gangs were blamed for more than 2,000 murders nationwide in 2006. Northern towns like Tijuana have shown particularly high death tolls.
In late March, Calderón commented on his plan to combat drug lords, saying, "I'm a realist and I know this will be a long battle. We won't be able to proclaim victory or say it's over, not while consumption is so strong on the other side of the border. (...) I probably won't see the end of it while I'm president."
Polling Data
Do you agree or disagree with the way Felipe Calderón is governing?
Mar. 2007 | Feb. 2007 | |
Agree | 65.0% | 55.0% |
Disagree | 31.0% | 38.4% |
Source: Consulta Mitofsky
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,000 Mexican adults, conducted from Mar. 16 to Mar. 19, 2007. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.