Honduran President Mel Zelaya Retains Public Support
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October 23, 2009. Washington, DC. Nearly four months after Honduran President Mel Zelaya was forced from office, he retains considerable public support, according to a new survey by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner.
- By a large 22-point margin (60 to 38 percent), the Honduran public disapproves of the removal on June 28 of Zelaya as president.
- Two-thirds approve of Zelaya’s performance as president. Nineteen percent rated his performance as “excellent” and another 48 percent as “good.”
The national survey, which involved face-to-face interviews with 621 randomly selected Hondurans from October 9-13, found that Zelaya is considerably more popular than Roberto Micheletti, who has been serving as de facto president. By a 2-1 margin (57 to 28 percent), Hondurans have a negative personal opinion of Micheletti. And a slight majority gives Micheletti’s tenure as president negative marks.
Hondurans are eager to participate in the elections scheduled for November 28, according to the survey, but there is widespread concern about their being held with Micheletti in office. Eighty-one percent think the elections should take place, but only a bare majority (54 percent) believes they would be legitimate if held under the acting government.
“The international community’s rejection of the coup reflects the views held by most Hondurans,” said Mark Feierstein, partner and vice president of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. “Mel Zelaya should not have been forcibly removed from office.”
The survey also found that Hondurans retain relatively positive views of the United States. Hondurans divide evenly on their view of President Barack Obama, while 83 percent have a negative impression of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
