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. Evo Morales stepped down from office on November 10, 2019, following October 20, 2019, presidential elections that international election observers assert were marred by fraud. After several resignations, the highest-ranking official still in office, Second Vice President of the Senate, Jeanine Áñez, declared herself interim president on November 12, 2019. Bolivia's Constitutional Court endorsed her as interim president. See CRS Insight IN11198, Bolivia: Presidential Resignation and Aftermath.

c. On November 23, 2019, Bolivia passed a law that annulled the results of the October 20 elections and established that the next presidential elections must be convened within 120 days of the appointment of a new electoral tribunal. The electoral tribunal is likely to be appointed in December 2019.

d. 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.

e. 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.

f. Luis Lacalle Pou was elected president in a runoff election on November 24, 2019 and is expected to take office on March 1, 2020.

g. 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.

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