Funes' popularity grows in stretch run

During his last year in office, the president of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, is more popular than ever, with 67% of the Salvadoran population giving a positive rating to his mandate, according to a recent survey by CID-Gallup.

Funes´ approval rating is higher than that of any of his three predecessors, Antonio Saca, Francisco Flores and Alfredo Cristiani.

If El Salvador let presidents be reelected, Funes would be in office for another five years without much difficulty. 

A large majority of respondents (88%) believes that the president has had more successes than failures over the past four years, especially where the economy is concerned. 

Still, economic issues remain a major public concern, along with with security. 

The survey also measured the voting intentions of voters, who go to the polls next year. 

If the election were held today, there would be a dead heat between Salvador Sanchez Ceren of the FMLN, Funes' party, and Norman Quijano of ARENA, each of whom would get 31% of the vote.