Weekly Report - 19 August 2003

President Lucio Gutiérrez's approval rating has fallen to 31%, less than half the 64% recorded when he took office on 15 January. It is lowest in the key districts of Quito (30%), Guayaquil (29%) and Cuenca (28%). Only in his native Amazonian province of Napo has his rating risen, to 72%. There is also little doubt about the immediate reason for the fall: 45% disapproved of his break with his indigenous coalition allies. 

Bias can be safely ruled out in the survey. The leading partner in the polling firm Cedatos, Polibio Córdova, is the chief of the government's advisers.