Chile's Bachelet still popular after quake - poll

[Judi Lynn]

Chile's Bachelet still popular after quake - poll
Tue Mar 9, 2010 11:46am EST*
President's approval ratings untouched by quake response

SANTIAGO, March 9 (Reuters) - Chile's outgoing President Michelle Bachelet maintained her record-high approval after last week's devastating earthquake despite widespread criticism of the government's handling of the disaster, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday.

Before the 8.8-magnitude quake killed hundreds of people, wiped out roads and bridges and damaged hundreds of thousands of homes, Bachelet was one of the most popular presidents in Latin America with an 84 percent approval rating.

A new survey taken in the days following the Feb. 27 quake showed Bachelet's rating unchanged. Seventy-five percent approved of her response to the quake, one of the most powerful in a century anywhere in the world.

The survey by polling firm Adimark Gfk also showed high hopes for the incoming government of conservative businessman Sebastian Pinera, who takes office on Thursday, with 59 percent saying Chile will fare well under the new administration.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0910043220100309?type=marketsNews

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The Financial Times would give you a different picture:

Chile quake sours Bachelet’s legacy
By Jude Webber in Buenos Aires

Published: March 9 2010 22:41 | Last updated: March 9 2010 22:41

Chile quake sours Bachelet’s legacy
By Jude Webber in Buenos Aires

Published: March 9 2010 22:41 | Last updated: March 9 2010 22:41

Michelle Bachelet, Chile’s president, who hands over power on Thursday, famously said before taking office in 2006 that politicians should not be allowed “second helpings”.

Although she ended up bending her own rule, installing tried and tested faces rather than the new blood she had promised, such was her popular approval that a second bid for the presidency in 2013 looked likely.

The February 27 earthquake changed all that. Though Ms Bachelet exuded the empathy that is one of her best-loved traits as she toured wrecked towns, hugged victims and choked back tears on television, warnings of a tsunami were botched and she looked slow to deliver aid or deploy the military to quell looting.

The earthquake, which hit just as Chile was emerging from recession and heading for a rise in gross domestic product of up to 5.5 per cent this year, is expected to wipe out growth in the first half and spark a temporary rise in inflation, though the mammoth reconstruction effort will spur recovery and jobs later in 2010.

“The possibility of a comeback has evaporated,” says Eugenio Tironi, a political analyst. “There are some things you can’t fix by just being nice. There are questions now about her ability to take decisions.”

More:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ddb63460-2bbb-11df-a5c7-00144feabdc0.html