MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

APEC forum helps boost Peruvian president standing

Spite of the economic success, not the most loved President

Peruvian president Alan García's approval was up 8.1 points in November according to the latest release from the public opinion pollster CPI.

García's role as host of the recent APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) forum; the signing of several international trade agreements and the relative economic stability of Peru had a positive influence on public opinion. But in spite of the improvement, President García only has a positive rating of only 23.1%, possibly among the lowest in the continent, and this even when the Peruvian economy is proving to be the fastest growing of the region. Disapproval dropped 8.5 points to 69.2% and in the capital Lima which concentrates over half the country's population his approval rating was 28.1% and 62.7% negative. President García low performance in the interviews is attributed to the mismatch between macroeconomic results and virtually unchanged poverty percentages contrary to electoral promises. According to the opinion poll contracted by a pool of broadcasting stations, 15.3% of those polled said that the main benefit of the APEC meeting (which gathered world leaders from the US, China, Japan, Canada, Australia, among others) will be the promotion of trade and further trade agreements. Another 13.3% said that the APEC meeting will attract more investments to Peru, more jobs and boost exports. Regarding presidential hopefuls, Lima's mayor Luis Castañeda Lossio leads with a vote intention of 18%, followed by Ollanta Humala (who lost in the run off with President García) with 16.9% and Conservative Lourdes Flores, 13.4%. The poll did not take into account the latest incident with Chile triggered by embarrassing statements from Peru's chief of the Army and which has both political systems trying to play down. Although traditional relations between neighbouring Chile and Peru have improved significantly under elected governments sentiments run strong and for a relatively weak president, --improving in the polls--, it is awkward to sack a general who after all retires next Friday. Mr. Garcia has based the success of the Peruvian economy on free markets, promoting trade, attracting foreign investments which in a country with a hyper nationalist spirit are not easy, particularly when his main opponent, a former military officer Ollanta Humala, insists in preaching the contrary: a closed economy, with heavy government intervention and participation, following on the steps of populist leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Ecuador's Rafael Correa.