Latin America and the Caribbean: Fact Sheet on Leaders and Elections

Table 1. South America: Heads of State and Election Schedules

Source: Compiled by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

a. Alberto Fernández was elected president on October 27, 2019, and is scheduled to take office on December 10, 2019. See CRS Insight IN11184, Argentina's 2019 Elections.

b. Bolivia's October 20, 2019, first-round election was marred by allegations of fraud in the vote tabulation. The country's electoral agency maintains that Evo Morales won a narrow first-round victory, but opposition candidate Carlos Mesa is rejecting the electoral agency's assertion. Morales has agreed to have the Organization of American States (OAS) audit the election results, and to participate in a second round election later this year if recommended by the OAS. Mesa has called for the election to be redone.

c. President Granger announced that general elections will be held on March 2, 2020. See Alexis Rodney, "Development under the Coalition continues as Guyana readies for elections," Guyana's Department of Public Information, October 2, 2019.

d. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was elected president of Peru in June 2016, but resigned on March 21, 2018, just ahead of a vote on impeachment. First Vice President Martín Vizcarra constitutionally succeeded him and is set to fulfill the remainder of Kuczynski's term.

e. A runoff election is to be held on November 24, 2019, between the top two presidential candidates: Daniel Martínez and Luis Lacalle Pou. See Luisa Leme, "Three Takeaways from Uruguay's First-Round Presidential Vote," Americas Society/Council of the Americas, October 28, 2019.

f. In a controversial move, Venezuela's presidential election was moved forward from December 2018 to May 20, 2018. Most Venezuelans and much of the international community considered the May 2018 election, in which then-President Nicolás Maduro won reelection, as illegitimate (CRS In Focus IF10230, Venezuela: Political Crisis and U.S. Policy). The United States and over 50 other countries have recognized Juan Guaidó, elected president of Venezuela's National Assembly in January 2019, as Interim President of Venezuela yet Maduro remains in power (CRS Insight IN11024, Venezuela: U.S. Recognizes Interim Government).

Table 2. Mexico and Central America: Heads of State and Election Schedules

Source: Compiled by CRS.

a. Alejandro Giammattei was elected president in a runoff election on August 11, 2019, and is scheduled to take office on January 14, 2020.

Table 3. Caribbean: Heads of State and Election Schedules

Source: Compiled by CRS.

a. Cuba does not have direct elections for its head of government. Instead, Cuba's legislature selects the members of the 31-member Council of State, with the president of that body serving as Cuba's head of government and head of state. In April 2018, Cuba's legislature selected Miguel Díaz-Canel for a five-year term. In October 2019, Cuba's legislature appointed Díaz-Canel as president of the republic under Cuba's new constitution.

Carla Y. Davis-Castro, Research Librarian ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])