Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos has an approval rating of 82%, despite more than half of Colombians feeling less safe under his administration, according to a recent survey from the news agency CM&.
The report, conducted by the research company National Consulting Center, found that Santos received high approval rates for many aspects of his presidency, including his handling of the economy, fighting corruption, and his foreign relations policies.
According to the report, more than two-thirds of respondents believe that Santos has kept his promise to help the poorest people of Colombia, although 50% disapprove of his handling of unemployment in the country. However, 70% approve of his economic policies.
Sixty-eight percent of the people surveyed approve of how Santos has fought corruption in his first 13 months in office.
Santos received particularly high approval ratings in his foreign relations policies, with 86% of people generally supporting his diplomatic choices thus far. Eighty percent feel approve of his relations with Colombia’s eastern neighbor, Venezuela.
Despite the generally optimistic sentiments of the Colombians surveyed, a daunting 57% feel less safe under the current administration. Santos has been heavily criticized by former President Alvaro Uribe for dismantling his security policies which Uribe believes resulted in the deterioration of security in Colombia.