MIAMI (Reuters) - Latin Americans have a dismal opinion of President Bush after he ignored world opinion to wage war in Iraq, and against a backdrop of mistrust over U.S. aims in pushing for regional free trade, a poll published on Tuesday showed.
The University of Miami School of Business/Zogby International poll of Latin American elites found that only 12 percent of those questioned rated President Bush's performance on Latin America as positive.
In Brazil, Latin America's largest country, 98 percent gave the U.S. leader a negative mark.
In Mexico, where President Vicente Fox has been frustrated in his quest to improve the lot of 3 million to 5 million Mexicans living illegally in the United States, just 5 percent gave Bush positive grades.
The poor view of Bush was mirrored by unease about who stands to gain from a 34-nation Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which would bring down trade barriers from Alaska to Patagonia and create a market of nearly 800 million people.
Just over half of the 537 Latin American community leaders questioned in six countries between Aug. 20-Oct. 2 believed the United States would benefit the most.
In Brazil, which has been trying to establish itself as a South American counterbalance to U.S. economic might ahead of the next FTAA summit in Miami Nov. 17-21, almost three-quarters regarded the United States as the prime beneficiary.
"I think there are questions as to whether the United States is a good trade partner or not, but I think there's also a broader context," said John Zogby, president of pollsters Zogby International.
"This is part of the fallout over the war in Iraq. Not only (are we) not a good trade partner but we are also a country that's willing to go it alone on a major venture and not try to win trust with our traditional allies."
Zogby and the University of Miami School of Business interviewed Latin Americans from the government, media, business and academic sectors in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela.
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