Colombia’s outgoing President Alvaro Uribe leaves office with an average approval rating of 72 per cent over his eight years in office, according a poll conducted by the research firm Gallup.
Meanwhile, President-elect Juan Manuel Santos will start his term in office with a popularity rating of 76 per cent.
Uribe’s approval rating a week before he finishes his term is at 75 percent, a sizeable improvement on the 68 percent he registered in a previous poll in April.
Jorge Londoño, head of the polling firm Gallup Invamer, said the peak of the leader’s popularity saw a peak of 85 per cent following the successful release of FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt in July 2008, whilst the lowest occurred in February of this year following his attempts to gain a second re-election, with polls registering 63 per cent popularity.
The poll showed that 80 per cent of Colombians approve of how Uribe served in his position as head of state, 68 percent believe the present government has properly handled international relations and 82 percent applaud the leader’s fight against guerrilla factions.
Betancourt’s popularity has suffered following her multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Colombian government, with 83 per cent registering as unfavorable image of the former politician.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, however, remains the least popular figure among Colombians with an unfavorability rating of 92 per cent.