Mexico’s AMLO Drops to Lowest Approval of His Term After Scandal

(Bloomberg) -- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's approval rating has dropped to the lowest score of his term after a scandal involving his eldest son, according to a poll by newspaper El Financiero.

The president, known as AMLO, saw his approval fall six percentage points between January and February to 54% as his pro-austerity administration was rocked by the revelation that his son was renting a lavish house owned by a Baker Hughes Co. oil executive in Houston. His disapproval rating climbed to 43% from 38% a month earlier, according to the poll published Tuesday.

The non-profit civil association Mexicans Against Corruption and news outlet Latinus said earlier this year that Jose Ramon Lopez Beltran, the president's 40-year-old son, has lived in recent years in two homes in Texas, each worth nearly $1 million. While Baker Hughes said last week an external audit found no irregularities and that the executive left the company shortly after the rental, the case appeared to contradict the president's austerity pledge.

Asked about the scandal, 46% of respondents in El Financiero's poll said the case is a potential conflict of interest that needs to be investigated, while 40% see it as an attack on the president. Half of those surveyed thought the affair had damaged the president's image. Only a third thought he had done the right thing by publishing the alleged salary of the journalist who reported his son's living situation.

The telephone poll was conducted in mid-to-late February and surveyed 1,500 Mexicans with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 points. A separate poll published by El Universal newspaper on Monday said his approval had fallen only 3 points to 65% between February and November.