Poll: 76% of Peruvians disapprove of socialist President Pedro Castillo

As deadly street protests continue to rock Peru, a new Datum poll released on Thursday revealed that 76% of Peruvians disapprove of President Pedro Castillo.

According to the data, after 8 months in office, only 19% of the population supports the former schoolteacher and trade unionist who won the presidency under a “Marxist-Leninist” banner in June of 2021.  

In Peru’s capital region, 85% of those polled said they disapprove of Castillo – while disapproval stood at 79% in the country’s eastern region, 77% in the center and 62% in the south, La Republica reported.

Furthermore, 77% percent of women disagree with Castillo's government, while 74% of male respondents disapprove. Similarly, there is evidence to suggest that disapproval of the president exceeds 70% across all socioeconomic sectors.

But Castillo’s cabinet – which has suffered several reshuffles in recent months – also faired poorly in the survey.

Prime Minister Aníbal Torres Vázquez currently holds a 62% disapproval rating after only two months as head of the Council of Ministers – a higher figure than his predecessors Guido Bellido (51% disapproval) and Mirtha Vasquez (58% disapproval.)

As an expression of the political crisis and the distrust of Peruvians in the authorities, Datum also found that 82% of the population disapproves of the work of the Peru’s Congress.

Peruvians have long been divided with regards to Castillo’s socialist regime, but protests driven by rising fuel and food prices have further angered voters who have, in recent days, started calling for Castillo to step down and call for new general elections.

Castillo attempted to mitigate the growing tensions on the streets earlier this week by ordering a curfew in Peru’s capital, Lima, but  was forced to lift the measure one day later after angry citizens disobeyed the order and took to the streets in protest, claiming he was attacking their civil liberties.

According to El Comercio, the government issued a state of emergency for the highway system on Thursday and the National Police and the Armed Forces will soon take control of the Andean country’s highways in order to end the agrarian and transportation strikes which began two weeks ago.