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Poll: Majority of Venezuelans Say Chavez was Key to Easing Colombia Crisis
The Associated Press
March 19, 2008

CARACAS, Venezuela: A majority of Venezuelans say President Hugo Chavez played a key role in lowering tensions in South America after a cross-border Colombian military attack in Ecuador, according to a poll released Wednesday by the government.

The survey, carried out by pollster Veneop SA and reported by state television, found that 56 percent said Chavez played an "important" or "very important" role in lowering tensions between Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela at a recent summit in the Dominican Republic.

The deadly March 1 Colombian strike on a rebel base in Ecuador drew angry responses from Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa and Chavez. After days of harsh rhetoric and talk of war, Chavez now says he hopes to rebuild relations with Colombia.

The poll consulted 1,500 adults in urban areas between March 12 and 14, and reported an error margin of 3.3 percentage points. A statement released by the government did not clarify the survey's funding, and the pollster could not be reached for comment.

The survey also found that 66 percent said recent releases of hostages by Colombian rebels after Chavez's meditation "could help peace in Colombia," and that 54 percent agreed with the statement that the easing of tensions "was a political triumph for President Chavez."

When asked how they view the performance of Chavez's government, 44 percent said either "good" or "very good," while 24 percent said "fair" and 32 percent said "bad" or "very bad."

The new poll was released a day after two Venezuelan newspapers published polls saying public support for Chavez's government has significantly declined.

The pollster Datos, in a quarterly survey of 2,000 Venezuelans last month, found that some 34 percent said they support Chavez's government, down from a high of 67 percent in early 2005, and the lowest level since 2003.

The poll was published by the newspaper El Nacional, which said it had an error margin of 2.2 percentage points. It was unclear who paid for the poll.

Another survey, by Venezuelan pollster Alfredo Keller, found that 37 percent of Venezuelans questioned identified themselves as Chavez supporters in February, down from 50 percent in mid-2007.

That poll, published Tuesday in the newspaper El Universal, surveyed 1,200 people and had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points. Keller said nine businesses had funded the survey, but he declined to identify them.

Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the independent Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research, was skeptical of Tuesday's poll results, citing Chavez's long-standing popularity and the fastest economic growth in the Americas.

"Obviously, Chavez has been affected by these food shortages," he said. Weisbrot, an economist who has studied Venezuela's economy, said he believes the government will solve those problems.

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