Poll: Nicaraguans Prefer Putin to Biden and Xi over Pope Francis

The majority of Nicaraguans are pleased with their recent joining of the Belt and Road project with China and disagree with the U.S. Monroe Doctrine.

A recent poll touched on a range of international topics, including Nicaraguan views on President’s Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping as well as Pope Francis and OAS Chief Luis Almagro. Participants of the survey were also asked about their views on sanctions, recent national elections, foreign intervention, the OAS and political ideology.

On Wednesday, M&R Consultants polling firm presented the results of its recent national survey, titled, “Nicaraguans and their Perspectives on the International Environment” carried out between February 12- 20 of this year. The survey was conducted in both urban and rural areas of all 15 departments and 2 autonomous regions of Nicaragua.

Opinions Towards International Figures

Results indicated that Nicaraguans hold more favorable views towards Russian President Vladimir Putin than U.S. President Joe Biden and that they also prefer Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pope Francis. Perception of Luis Almagro, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), has steadily declined since 2018.

Socialism vs Capitalism

Respondents heavily favored progressivsim (55.8% positive) and socialism (53% positive) over capitalism (24.9% positive) and neoliberalism (15.6% positive). Only 12.9% of those surveyed expressed negative views of socialism.

Off the heels of the Sandinista government’s high-level bilateral meetings with government representatives of China and Russia, the Nicaraguan public expressed mostly positive views on the performance on an international level of China (69.7% positive) and Russia (64.3% positive). About half of respondents reacted positively to the European Union (51.2%) while views of the United States were almost as negative as they are positive (40.1% positive, 36.3% negative).

The United States and the Monroe Doctrine

Over two-thirds of the survey’s participants said they disagree with the statement “America for Americans” associated with the Monroe Doctrine, and 81.1% disagree with the statement “Latin America in general and Nicaragua in particular is the United States’ backyard”.

80.6% reject recent remarks by Joe Biden saying Latin America is in fact the United States’ “front yard”.

61.4% said that the United States represents a threat to peace and democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Foreign Intervention, Sanctions, and the OAS

The survey indicates that 91.8% of Nicaraguans believe that sanctions being imposed on Nicaragua harm all Nicaraguans; 71.4% maintain that the imposition of sanctions is one more manifestation of the interventionist policy of the United States in the internal affairs of Nicaragua and 72.4% disagree with activities carried out by Nicaraguan nationals with the purpose of promoting sanctions against the country.

84% of respondents stated that Nicaragua under no circumstances should allow itself to be subjected to the tutelage of countries or international organizations; 70.2% believe that the Organization of American States (OAS) violates the principles for which it was created because it intervenes in the internal affairs of some member states to promote the interests of the United States in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean; and 64.8% agree with the decision of the government to withdraw from the OAS, given that the organization disrespects the sovereignty and self-determination of countries.

88.1% of those surveyed maintain that for Nicaragua to prosper it must act according to the interests of the country, without foreign interference.

Nicaragua-China Relations

When it comes to Nicaragua-China relations, respondents were overwhelmingly optimistic. 77.2% approve of Nicaragua’s establishment of diplomatic, economic and trade relations with China, which were announced in December. 90.8% said these new ties give them hope. Managua’s signing of a cooperation agreement with China, which marked the joining of the joining of the Belt and Road Initiative, received 81.3% approval and only 9.6% disapproval.

The full M & R survey can be downloaded below.

By Kawsachun News