MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Colombia confirms full support to tough anti guerrilla policy

Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe and, to a lesser extent, Ecuador's Rafael Correa were the Latinamerican leaders with the greatest approval rating in March according to the latest public opinion poll from the renowned consultants Mitofsky with results published in the Mexican press on Monday.

Alvaro Uribe who has completed 68 months in office "following the conflict with Ecuador when Colombian troops bombed and destroyed a FARC rebel group camp inside Ecuadorian territory triggering a regional conflict, has seen his approval rating increase six points over January" and now stands at 84%. Similarly with Ecuador's Rafael Correa who has taken advantage of the "nationalist" spirit provoked by the Colombian armed incursion and now stands above 80%. Running close to Ecuador's Correa is Mexican president Felipe Calderón with a 61% support. However Mr. Calderón's rating was taken in February. Following this first group come six presidents with domestic supports ranging between 50 and 60%: El Salvador's Antonio Sacca, 59%; Bolivia's Evo Morales, 56%; Brazil's Lula da Silva, 55%; Panama's Omar Torrijos, 51%; Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, 51% and Costa Rica's Oscar Arias, 50%. Below the threshold of 50% come Presidents Alvaro Colom from Guatemala, 49%; Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner from Argentina, 47%; Chile's Michelle Bachelet, 46%; Uruguay's Tabare Vazquez, 45% and Honduras Manuel Zelaya with 38%. Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper and US President George Bush come 15 and 16 in the list with ratings of 34% and 30%. And in the tail is Peru's Alan Garcia with 28%; Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, 21% and last of all Paraguay's Nicanor Duarte with 5%, whose Colorado party last Sunday lost the presidential election to a former Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo, putting an end to six decades of undisputed rule over the landlocked, poverty stricken country