Chilean miners trapped, but citizens approve government response

That support stems in large part from the government stepping in to rescue private industry. The miners were working in the northern Atacama desert of Chile for a small, private company. “It’s the first time ever that any Chile government has spent all of its time and money to rescue people who have nobody to defend them,” says Marta Lagos, the director of Latinobarometro, a regional polling organization in Santiago.

The support the nation has given the president during this rescue effort stands in stark contrast to the criticism the government received after the 8.8 earthquake in February. The Piñera administration came into office in March, just weeks into recovery efforts. The administration has been hurt by perceptions that reconstruction is too slow, Ms. Lagos says, especially given the large sums of money collected.

Comparing government responses

The government decision to immediately attempt to rescue the miners has been compared to the response of US President Barack Obama during the oil rig explosion and spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"He took a gamble, and it has paid off,” says Ricardo Israel, a political analyst at the Autonomous University of Chile. “He could have taken a similar attitude as Obama in the case of the oil spill and said, ´This is the problem of those who created it and not the government's.' He would have been criticized for this.”

But for those who do not support the Piñera administration, the government role in the rescue has not necessarily changed their opinions of the president or his policies. “For me, it is good that he is putting emphasis on their recovery, this is part of his job as president, but it does not make him a better president,” says Rocio Ponce, a medical student at the University of Valparaiso.

And it could backfire if the rescue effort fails or stalls. Already the government has promised to spend millions of dollars on making sure each of the 33 men is lifted from the ground alive, whether it is in two months or four or longer.

“The government is taking an enormous amount of risk spending $10 million to save 33 lives,” says Lagos.

Even if the rescue is 100 percent successful, it is still only a short-term boost that will mean little as he forges policies, tackles unemployment, and addresses the other issues afflicting the nation, says Mr. Israel.

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