Chile: Piñera recovers in survey due to pandemic management

SANTIAGO – The approval of the Chilean president, Sebastián Piñera, reached 23% during the month of April, a rebound of eight percentage points compared to the previous month, according to a survey released over the weekend.

“The month of April shows for the first time after the social outbreak of October 2019 a significant rebound in the evaluation of both the president and the government. President and government rise eight percentage points, reaching 23%, the best evaluation in seven months,” the study indicated.

The result of the survey by the consulting firm Criteria Research represents an improvement for Piñera, who has remained below 20% since the social outbreak, while before the massive marches he enjoyed 33% approval. The study also revealed a drop in the president’s disapproval, going from 80 to 70% in a month.

The government also recorded improvement in its data with numbers similar to those of the head of state, since the cabinet has approval of 23%, against 15% the previous month, while disapproval decreased from 81 to 72%.

So far, Chile has registered 323 coronavirus deaths and more than 30,000 cases, according to official figures.

Since March 18, Chile has been under a state of constitutional catastrophe due to the health crisis, which is why it had to postpone the holding of a constitutional plebiscite initially scheduled for April 26 and to be held on October 25 of this year.

The plebiscite for the change of the Constitution prepared during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) was one of the main demands during the massive marches after the October social outbreak, in addition to other political, economic and social changes.–MercoPress