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 Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, had a stunning 84% approval during January the highest since taking office in 2003 and the highest of any Brazilian president ever, according to the latest public opinion poll published this week in São Paulo.
Meanwhile his Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet is recovering from low records and now has a 53% support the second highest since December 2006 (54.3%).
In Brazil the poll was done by Sensus for the business organization National Transport Confederation (CNT) and included 2.000 interviews in 24 different states and 136 municipalities between January 26 and 30.
Lula's approval stands at 84%, disapproval at 12.2% which compares favorably with December's 80.3% and 15.2% respectively.
It's by far the highest support of the trade union leader turned president since taking office in January 2003 when he peaked 83.6%. The pollster was also Sensus.
On the other hand the Brazilian government performance received a positive approval of 72.5% and negative of 5.5%, compared to December's 71.1% and 6.4%.
"In spite of the economic crisis and growing unemployment, the popularity of Lula continues to grow, to a historic record, in the assessment of the government and his personal performance" said Clésio Andrade, CNT president.
For an overwhelming majority of Brazilians Lula remains as the "anchor of hope" in spite of the persistent problems of crime, violence and now the economic recession, added Andrade.
Meantime in Chile Ms Bachelet performance approval reached 53.1% the highest since 2006, according to private pollster Adimark.
This represents a two percentage point increase over the 51.1% of December while the disapproval index dropped from 34.7% to 30% this month, also the lowest since December 2006.
Thus the Chilean president seems to have regained the level of approval she managed during the first months of her administration, particularly since last September, indicated as the month which signaled the "official" start of global recession and when her standing was 42%.
The public opinion poll shows that 46.3% of Chileans believe the President and the Executive have addressed the economic crisis in a "very good or good" way, while 40.6% feel the performance has been below average and 13.1% describe it as "bad or very bad."
The percentage approval is higher than last November (44.4%) when the Chilean government announced a support package of 1.15 billion US dollars anticipating the possible adverse effects of the global slowdown in Chile.
Last January 5 Ms Bachelet announced another 4 billion US dollars stimulus plan targeted to prop employment and growth.
The poll also showed that the Chilean government has a 43.4% approval and 41.3% disapproval, which signals a change from the negative edge prevalent until last September.
The ministers with the best performance rates are Foreign Affairs Alejandro Foxley (52.4%) and Finance minister Andres Velasco (46.1%).
Mercopress
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Even Ch.c would be proud of you. 
Brazil received a huge boost in its international image with its selection as the host of the 2016 Olympics, but it was really just the cherry on top of the overall recognition of the country's ascension to the ranks of one of the world's most important countries. Now, as it finally takes its place on the world scene, there has been a great deal of concern about what kind of image Brazil hopes to project, now that the world is really paying attention. 
The only good thing to say about the visit to Brazil of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Monday November 23, is that it was mercifully short and lasted less than 24 hours. Ahmadinejad had his picture taken being hugged by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who gave him a warm welcome and said Iran had every right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 
The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose.
In light of the lack the appropriate education, required qualification and necessary maturity to make important political choices, the lower classes of Latin America have not reached the same stage of development which occurred in Europe and North America during the Nineteenth Century; indeed the uneducated (ill-bred) millions (from Recife to Lima / from Niteroi to Caracas) will always fall prey to the inescapable manipulation of clever, totalitarian Populist leaders.
Consequently, based on the latest information I have been exposed at Brazzil.com, my political persuasion has been turning increasingly more polarized towards the Right of the Political Spectrum as I grow convinced that Unfortunately, there is no place for a fully democratic system in a society of illiterate, ignorant individuals!
Rather, in my modest view, what the Brazilian nation truly requires a very STRONG Political Regimen which (albeit possessing some democratic elements) would significantly restrict the malevolent deeds and intents from the Far Left thus avoiding the emergence of socialist criminals to lead the country… Using the example of the surprising success of the current incumbent sitting at Palacio do Planalto: an incompetent clown who appeals to the masses merely because he is in a position to claim a certain notion of "brotherhood" with them, given his rather low birth and lack of education...
Without "Ordung" (ORDER) there can be no "Fortschritt" (Progress)! These wonderful concepts, which unfortunately contradict the very Nature of Brazilian politics (particularly during the past five-sixe years) will never reflect the noble cause and objectives apparently intended by those to designed the nation’s Flag, unless the necessary action is taken: the implementation of a Political System capable of bringing true Order and Security to its people and thus, inevitably, also progress…
Only with a “Stark und Gutartig Regierung” (Strong but benign government) would systematically and readily dispel the FILTH brought forth by the hordes or Labor militants (influenced by the nefarious influence and manipulation of Venezuela) will the nation once again move forward in a clear ORDERLY pathway!