MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Barack Obama the most amiable leader for Latinamerica, Spain and Portugal

Lula da Silva has the highest rating in his country, Brazil

United States President Barack Obama was voted as the most amiable national leader according to the 2010 Barómetro Iberoamericano de Gobernabilidad, an organization that conducts studies of governmental and economic institutions in Latin America, Spain, and Portugal.

Spain’s King Juan Carlos obtained a 56.6% affability rating while former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet received 56.4% resulting in a technical tie for second place.

Obama took first place with an average of 62.1%. In the Iberian Peninsula, he was seen as the most congenial leader although in Venezuela and Bolivia he was not so popular, with only 34.9% and 46.6% ratings, respectively.

Among the more unpopular leaders were Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega, former Cuban president Fidel Castro, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, and the current Cuban head of state Raúl Castro.

Although Chávez and Morales had low regional ratings overall (26.4% and 34.7%, respectively), they had high percentages of approval in their respective countries with 64.6% for Chávez and 52.9% for Morales.

The leader to achieve the highest approval rating in his own country was Brazilian president Lula da Silva.

The Spanish head of state José Rodríguez Zapatero and the president of Honduras, Porfirio Lobo, received the lowest approval ratings, not especially surprising, as Lobo is still not recognized by various countries.

Former Chilean president Bachelet was also recognized this week for her efforts in defending human rights and justice by the Universidad de Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona.

By Elizabeth Osborne – Santiago Times