The urban approval rating of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has hit an almost all-time low with no more than 29% of Colombians approving of their head of state, Gallup announced on Thursday.
Last month, the president still counted on the approval of 45% of urban dwellers.
Since last month’s poll, the president’s disapproval rating shot up from 53% to 64%, nearly two thirds of the Colombian urban population.
Santos began his presidency with an approval rating of 74% but has slowly been losing the support of the Colombian population following consistent discontent about the administration’s policies.
Why Colombians don’t like their president
Santos’ approval ratings
The latest drop in popularity is most likely due to a recent setback in ongoing peace talks with FARC rebels who killed 11 soldiers in a surprise attack on an army platoon while formally holding a unilateral ceasefire.
The attack and the subsequent resumption of air strikes against the guerrillas has also damaged Colombians’ already approval of the peace negotiations that was slowly on the increase.
Colombia increasingly optimistic about outcome of peace talks with FARC
In February, 69% of Colombians said to believe negotiations were the best way to solve the country’s 50-year armed conflict. This has dropped to 52%.
According to a second poll released on Thursday, 32% of Colombians is optimistic about the outcome of peace talks while 56% has no faith the negotiations will result in a deal that effectively ends 50 years of political violence between leftist guerrilla groups like the FARC and ELN.
But Santos is facing a largely pessimistic electorate, not just in regards to the peace talks.
According to 84% of urban Colombians polled by Gallup, public security is getting worse, while 83% claimed corruption is getting worse. Eighty percent of the polled Colombians said the cost of life is worsening.
Gallup polls Colombians in the country’s five largest cities where approximately one third of the country’s population lives.
