Mexico's Peña Nieto sees approval fall to new low

Can the approval ratings of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (EPN) go any lower?

A new Mitofsky poll has his 'favorables' at 24% in November, down from 29% in August, as a presidency already marred by scandals involving human rights violations and financial impropriety was further hit by peso depreciation and the chilling effect of Donald Trump.

The new low represents the worst approval rating ever recorded in the five presidencies measured in the history of the Mexican polling agency, and extends a steady decline in his approval since May 2014.

The Mitofsky survey, conducted by pollster Roy Campos, concluded that EPN's numbers began to fall soon after the last survey was released with an ill-fated meeting with then-candidate for US president Donald Trump on August 31.

"In the last quarter, the most costly event to [EPN's] image was his reception of Donald Trump, who ended up being the winner of the election, but whom Mexico rejects and fears for his statements and references to our countrymen," noted the poll report.

That meeting led to the ouster of then-finance minister Luis Videgaray, who took the fall for having pushed for the meeting, leaving the president without his right-hand man in the cabinet.

This helped to generate a pronounced Trump effect, weakening the peso with every improvement in Trump's chances at the presidency and ultimately a historic plummet upon his upset victory on November 8.

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The peso was already under pressure from a looming deficit and low oil prices; however, while economic woes were confirmed to be a greater overall problem than security problems - as they have for the entirety of his presidency, the latter gained ground with those claiming security to be a greater problem grew to 43% from 39% in August.

"The increases in anxiety over insecurity and corruption are worrisome, as these variables are those that have most harmed the image of the government."

On the question of which of 12 key problems is the greatest at this time in Mexico, the three highest movers included: crime jumping to its highest level in the EPN presidency (since December 2012), up 3 percentage points year-to-year to 30% in November; 8% rated corruption as the highest problem, a one-point increase that lifted this category to its highest level in 11 years; and 4% of those polled saw inflation the greatest problem, up 2 percentage points.

The seemingly unending economic crisis was listed at 24% again for the third time in the quarterly poll, followed by unemployment, which fell 3 points in this poll to 11%.