Tal Cual today carries the latest IVAD poll, and it confirms what other pollsters have been saying for a while: there is a general weakening of chavismo, and the trend down is slow but solid. I am not discussing IVAD because I particularly like it, I highlight it because for once a poll is published rather complete, and about the stuff that is of more interest of readers to blogs like this one. Personally, if you are a long time reader, you know that I have lost trust in polls since 2004 and that I use them as an additional source of info at best. This caveat out, let' see the relevant numbers.
First, the good (?) news for Chavez: he still has 48% of favorable on the poll. But if we remember that last February he was floating around 60% and still only got 54% on February 15 vote, we can see that the good news is quite relative. When you look at other numbers, Chavez can surely get scared, explaining a lot of his recent moves.
When people are asked whether they think Chavez is dealing with the hard the harsh realities of the country the numbers are equally harsh: 67% think he does not do enough to fight crime, 74% that he does not care much about unemployment, 62% that he could care more about electricity shortages. The awareness of the people about the government bad faith is revealed when they are asked about their trust in justice: 61% do not trust the Venezuelan judicial system (only 7.8% have "a lot" of trust, we know who those are).
80.6% want Chavez to stop giving money to foreign countries. Imagine that!
And more interesting numbers. All speak loud and clearly for themselves. I think it is easy to guess what should be the opposition platform for next year. What are they waiting for its publication?
-The end-