IPS: Latin American Elites More Doubtful of U.S.

For the complete report from IPS click on this link

Latin American Elites More Doubtful of U.S.

Elites in the major countries of Latin America are increasingly bullish about their nations' economies and increasingly alienated from the United States, according to a new survey by Zogby International and released this week by Newsweek magazine. The poll of 603 prominent Latin Americans -- divided roughly equally among politicians, businesspeople, academics and media figures, virtually all of them with university degrees -- suggests that Washington looms less important for these leaders than in the past and has become increasingly unpopular under President George W. Bush.

Indeed, 86 percent of respondents, including 81 percent who identified their political views as being right of centre, characterised Washington's handling of relations with Latin America as being either "fair" (48 percent) or "poor" (38 percent), compared to the mere 13 percent who called them "good" and one percent who said they were "excellent".

Anti-U.S. opinion was particularly pronounced in Mexico where nearly two out of three respondents described relations with Washington as "poor".