MADRID – Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez is the international leader held in the lowest esteem by Spaniards, according to the results of a study by think-tank Real Instituto Elcano, which polled 12,000 Spaniards between 26 November and 3 December. Chávez finished last in the popularity poll with a 1.4 ranking, below Cuba’s Fidel Castro (1.9) and the United States’ President George Bush (2.2).
 
The Venezuelan leader slipped 1.5 points from a similar Elcano poll published last June due to a high-profile spat between Spanish and Venezuelan diplomats after Chávez insulted ex-Prime Minister José María Aznar at an international summit last month, and Spain’s King Juan Carlos infamously told the leader to "shut up."

Most popular in Spain, with a 6.2 rating was EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, followed by former IMF director Rodrigo Rato.

[Copyright EL PAÍS, SL./ KELLY RAMUNDO  2007]

Subject: Spanish news