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Honeymoon Clearly Over for Peru’s García
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Public support for Alan García has dropped significantly over the past year, according to a poll by CPI. 45.3 per cent of respondents approve of the president's performance, down 26.5 points since August.
In June 2006, García—a member of the American Revolutionary People's Alliance (APRA)—won Peru's presidential election in a run-off against nationalist Ollanta Humala of the Union for Peru (UP). In July, García officially took over as president. He had previously served as Peru's head of state from 1985 to 1990.
Since taking office, the president has pursued an "austerity" project, which included a decree to cut the salaries of Peru's mayors. García defended the measure, saying it makes little sense to have overpaid public servants in regions where most people live in extreme poverty.
On Jun.1, García joined the heads of state of other Andean nations in a protest against the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), following its decision to ban official international soccer games from being played at more than 2,500 metres above sea level.
García deemed the decision "ethnocentric" and "insulting," adding, "Those who made the decision see the world as if it were their own country. These kinds of ideas have hurt the world." The governments of other South American countries affected by the measure, such as Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia, have also condemned FIFA president Joseph Blatter.
Polling Data
Do you approve or disapprove of Alan García's performance as president?
May 2007 | Aug. 2006 | |
Approve | 45.3% | 71.8% |
Disapprove | 45.6% | 7.9% |
Source: CPI
Methodology: Interviews with 1,300 Peruvian adults, conducted from May 21 to May 29, 2007. Margin of error is 2.3 per cent.