Brazil president’s popularity hits 76 percent, highest level since he took office

Silva’s popularity hits record 76 percent

SAO PAULO — A poll says the popularity of Brazil’s president is at its highest level since he took office in 2003.

The Datafolha polling institute says 76 percent of Brazilians see the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as good or great. It is the highest support for a president since the Datafolha began conducting such polls in 1990.

Datafolha says the popularity increased 3 percentage points compared to the last survey in February.

Silva has maintained a high popularity thanks to improved socio-economic numbers. His second term ends this year.

Datafolha interviewed more than 4,000 people on March 25-26. The poll’s margin of error is 2 percentage points. The survey was published Sunday in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper.