MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay's Lacalle gets highest approval ratings in LatAm

Under Lacalle, Uruguay's economy was also found to be the best in the region.

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou tops the list of most-approved Latin American heads of state, according to an Ipsos survey released Monday.

The study, conducted between July 14 and August 8, among 297 opinion leaders from 12 countries, showed Lacalle had a 74% approval against 14% disapproval. The remaining 12% did not have an opinion.

Lacalle's was by far the best score in both columns: the highest level of approval and the lowest level of disapproval.

He was followed by Chile's Gabriel Boric (49% approval and 44% disapproval) and Colombia's former president Iván Duque (40% approval and 53% disapproval), who is no longer in office following Gustavo Petro'sinauguration August 7.

The presidents with the worst ratings according to Ipsos were Nicolás Maduro (Venezuela - 8% approval and 92% disapproval), Miguel Díaz-Canel (Cuba - 14% approval and 78% disapproval), and Pedro Castillo Terrones (Peru - 15% approval and 74% disapproval).

Uruguay is also the country with the best economic evaluation in the region and the one where most respondents believed inflation would decrease in the next 12 months, while 65% of the opinion leaders consulted found Uruguay's economic situation to be between good and very very good.

Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro has a 20% approval rating and a 79% disapproval rating, while Argentina's Alberto Fernàndez has a 77% disapproval rating and a 19% approval rating.