Wednesday, August 29th 2012 - 21:22 UTC

Majority of Uruguayans mistrust President Mujica; support stands at 39%

Mistrust towards Uruguayan president Jose Mujica has again peaked in August and now stands at 52% while those trusting him are 39% with the remaining 8% saying they don’t know or prefer to remain quiet, according to the latest public opinion poll released this week in Montevideo.

The collapse of Pluna and internal fighting have impacted on Mujica’s performance

Oscar Bottinelli, head of pollster Factum said “that there has been a strong sustained fall in trust of Mujica since he took office (March 2010) until the end of 2011” since trust plummeted from 81% to 41% in that period.

However this year “a slow recovery was recorded that lasted during the first semester until it reached almost 49%”, but so far this quarter, in July and August “there was a kind of strong collapse which took the level to its lowest ever, since president Mujica took office”, said Bottinelli.

According to the pollster this can be attributed to “on the one side the persistent clashes inside the ruling coalition and the closure of Pluna (Uruguay’s flag air carrier)”.

Two out of three Uruguayans are in disagreement with putting an end to the old (1936) and main Uruguayan airline, which collapsed with debts of over 400 million dollars in the middle of major scandal involving Argentine private investors that had associated with the Uruguayan government allegedly in the re-launching of the flag carrier.  

“The closure of Pluna, the way the airline was again partly privatized during the previous government of President Tabare Vazquez, and letting the company collapse last July, when the beginning of winter holidays, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, certainly bashed the government and with particular intensity the economic team that was behind the whole operation”. The Argentine investors are regarded as a “con group” which outwitted the Uruguayan officials from the Economy ministry.

“Everything that hits the government, hits the president and the strong discrepancies inside the ruling coalition are having their impact on Mujica”, explained Bottinelli.

Looking into the political opinion spectrum, mistrust among members identified with the opposition stands at 81%, however among the ruling coalition voters, it is 69%. But Bottinelli points out to a worrisome fact: “there is a solid 23% of ruling coalition voters that mistrust President Mujica, or one out of four do not trust the president and this percentage have never ceased to increase”.
 

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1 Conqueror (#) Aug 30th, 2012 - 07:21 am Report abuse
But the argies think he's wonderful!
2 Britworker (#) Aug 30th, 2012 - 08:48 am Report abuse
Sounds like the Uruguayan people have had enough of their presidents head stuck up Kirchners arse, think the Paraguayans are giving them ideas.
3 LEPRecon (#) Aug 30th, 2012 - 10:33 am Report abuse
Viva the Latin spring against the worse type of socialism - dictatorship.

Come on Uruguay, kick out this weak man who won't stand up for your country, especially against your aggressive neighbours.
4 ChrisR (#) Aug 30th, 2012 - 02:31 pm Report abuse
Just let the system work as it should, no 'kicking out' of correctly elected representatives of any level in Uruguay. He will not be president that much longer.

We can leave that to others in South America.

Anyway, I agree (and recommended this on the Govt site) with pulling the plug on Pluna. It made perfect financial sense.

Why does a country of only 3M people, the vast majority of whom will never be able to afford a plane ticket, NEED a flag carrier?

His real problem as my friends tell me is his acquiescence to TMBOA. THAT is what will do for him.
5 redpoll (#) Aug 30th, 2012 - 05:56 pm Report abuse
@4 Chris couldnt agree with you more on all points. Binning PLUNA just before the July holidays was probably not a very astute political ploy. I dont like Pepe either but he was elected in fair elections so we have to wait for the next elections. If the Frente were united and popularity keeps dropping we may find Pepe retiring to his chacra on grounds of “ill health” Problem is his party is so divided and if that happened Astori who most of the real left wingers detest would then assume the presidency HMmmmmm
6 ChrisR (#) Aug 30th, 2012 - 07:19 pm Report abuse
5 Redpoll

Interesting take on things, but as always the real problems for us lie with our 'friends' to the south.

If Astori does get the Presidency, are things likely to get better in that respect?
7 redpoll (#) Aug 30th, 2012 - 09:33 pm Report abuse
Chris : yes our probs lie with “Cousins” inth esouth(and to a certain extent with our brasileiro friends too) As to Astori I think, though a socialist, he has a basic knowlege of economics and I think still acts as brake on some of the more crazy ideas of la Topolansky( Pepe´s brain???)
If this lot do get in again-hopenot- come back Tabaré Vasquez. At least he had the courage to stand up for our country aginst those porteño bullies
8 British_Kirchnerist (#) Aug 31st, 2012 - 01:33 pm Report abuse
I'm surprised at this, whatever else one can say about Mujica I'd have thought a self evidently honest guy like him would have been highly trusted. As for the problems in the FA that seem to be dragging him down, I hope he keeps left and stops fighting with the right over internal stuff by simply no longer being “internal” to such people at all, he's better off without them
9 redpoll (#) Aug 31st, 2012 - 03:31 pm Report abuse
I dont think anybody doubts his honesty apart from some incidents which are hidden in the distant past. What I do doubt is his ability to run a country and get things done. Its all bla bla and no action. As for his foriegn policy, he is literally selling his country down the river

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