Ecuador, Venezuela lead ranking of hemisphere's most popular leaders
Mexico's Consulta Mitofsky just put out their regional leadership list. The ranking is based on approval ratings so they're not strictly comparable nation-to-nation, but let's not let that get in the way of a good list.
Approval ratings are usually a good indicator of a candidate's election chances, so we'll have three opportunities in coming months to test that thesis. Hugo Chavez (ranked No. 4) is facing reelection Oct. 7, Rafael Correa (ranked No. 1!) faces reelection in February, and, of course, Barack Obama (ranked No. 10) has his chance Nov. 6.
Without further ado:
Top 5 Leaders in the Region based on approval ratings
#1 Ecuador - Rafael Correa 80%
#2 El Salvador - Mauricio Funes 72%
#3 Guatemala - Otto Perez 69%
#4 Venezuela - Hugo Chavez 64%
#5 Brazil - Dilma Rousseff 62%
...And the Bottom 5:
#16 Canada- Stephen Harper 37%
#17 Paraguay - Federico Franco 36%
#18 Chile - Sebastian Pinera 36%
#19 Honduras - Porfirio Lobo 14%
#20 Costa Rica - Laura Chinchilla 13%
