Support for Chavismo Climbs in Venezuela

Rachael Boothroyd-Rojas  (venezuelanalysis.com) – Support for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and the allied leftist coalition, the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP), has risen to 35% – up from 27% in January – according to a new poll. 

Carried out by independent think tank Hinterlaces, the survey shows that the ruling Chavista parties – which share the same voting ticket – continue to be Venezuela’s most popular electoral option despite
an ongoing economic crisis.

Additionally, the poll puts support for the entirety of Venezuela’s opposition parties six points below at 29%, which includes 7% for Democratic Action, 7% for the Popular Will party, 6% for the Justice First party, and 6% for the opposition MUD coalition as a whole. 

Nonetheless, a significant 36% of Venezuelans interviewed did not sympathize with any national party.  

In its conclusions based on the poll, Hinterlaces asserts that the PSUV “continues to be the main political, social, and cultural force in the country,” while Democratic Action and the Popular Will party have managed to “consolidate themselves as the principal parties of the opposition, displacing Justice First” (PJ).

However, support for the Popular Will party appears to have dropped from 8.6% in January, while backing for Democratic Action has risen by 1%. 

The pollster attributed the rise of the two opposition parties in the MUD to the “fall” of PJ leader Henrique Capriles Radonski, due to “his repeated setbacks as promoter of the failed strategies carried forward by the opposition from 2013, and for the growing unpopularity of his administration as governor of Miranda state”. 

1580 people were interviewed as part of the poll, which has a 2.5% margin of error. 

The survey results come on the back of another poll carried out by centre-right independent think tank Datanalisis in March, which put President Nicolas Maduro’s popularity ratings at 24.1%, according a report by Torino Capital. The figure represents an increase of 6% since November 2016, and places Maduro above other regional leaders such as Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (21%), de-facto Brazilian President Michel Temer (10%), and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet (23%).