Support for Chavez's government falls in Venezuela, polls say

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Public support for President Hugo Chavez's government has significantly declined, according to two polls published on Tuesday. Some 34 percent of Venezuelans surveyed said they support Chavez's government, down from a high of 67 percent in early 2005, to the lowest level in five years, a quarterly survey of 2,000 Venezuelans by Caracas pollster Datos found. The poll was published by the Caracas-based newspaper El Nacional, which said it had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points and was carried out last month in cities and towns representing 75 percent of Venezuela's population. It was unclear who paid for the poll, or how the questionnaire was structured. Pollsters at Datos could not be reached for comment.