Weekly Report - 3 August 2004

The 2006 elections may be a long way away, but each time this is said, they are closer. This observation was made by an aide to one of the core of close advisers to rightwing candidate Joaquí­n Laví­n, after some of his colleagues tried to dismiss a new set of opinion surveys showing their man in a diminishing light. In one of them Laví­n appears no longer neck-and-neck with defence minister Michelle Bachelet but in second place, with his rival ahead by more than the poll's margin of error. The second shows Laví­n still ahead, but with support much lower than a year-and-a-half ago, and with Bachelet rapidly closing the gap.