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Anti-crime drive lifts Mexican Calderon's ratings
01 Dec 2008 16:04:46 GMT
 Source: Reuters
MEXICO CITY, Dec 1 (Reuters) - A jump in support for Mexican President Felipe Calderon's crackdown on crime and drug cartels helped lift his approval rating in a newspaper poll published on Monday, despite worries about the economy.

A poll in the Reforma daily gave Calderon an overall approval rating of 64 percent, up two percentage points from the newspaper's September survey, as most respondents backed his handling of drug gang violence and the economy.

Calderon's army-led crackdown on drug cartels has become the main thrust of his presidency, but a spurt in violence between rival gangs and security forces has killed more than 4,300 people this year and alarmed the general public.

At least 40 percent of those surveyed in the Reforma poll said Calderon was doing a good job fighting crime and drug gangs, up from around a third in the September survey.

The poll found 85 percent of Mexicans are worried about the global financial crisis and 44 percent think Mexico's economy has worsened in the past 12 months, but more than half believe Calderon is taking the right measures to deal with it.

Mexico sends about 80 percent of its exports to the United States, which is reeling under the strain of a decline in its housing sector and turmoil in financial markets. Economists have been slashing their Mexican growth forecasts for 2009.

Calderon has enjoyed mainly strong ratings since he came to power in Dec. 2006, despite the escalation in drug violence.

However Monday's higher overall rating contrasts with a decline to 57 percent in a separate poll in the El Universal daily two weeks ago.

Reforma's poll of 1,515 people, carried out between Nov. 21 and 24, had a margin or error of 2.5 percentage points.

(Reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz, Editing by Sandra Maler)


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