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




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

Updated March 7, 2024
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
98-684




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his report provides the results of recent presidential elections in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Below are three tables, organized by region, that include the date of each
T country’s independence, the name of the most recently elected president or prime minister,
and the projected date of the next presidential election. Information in this report was compiled
from numerous sources, including the U.S. State Department, Central Intelligence Agency’s
(CIA’s) World Factbook, International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) Election Guide,
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), and other news sources.
Table 1. South America: Heads of Government and Election Schedules
Last
Independence
Head of
Election/
Next
Country
Date
Government
Runoff
Election/Runoff
Argentina
July 9, 1816
MILEI, Javier
Oct. 22,
Oct. 2027/Nov.
2023/Nov. 19,
2027
2023
Bolivia
Aug. 6, 1825
ARCE, Luis
Oct. 18, 2020a
2025
Brazil
Sept. 7, 1822
DA SILVA, Luiz Inácio (widely
Oct. 2, 2022/
Oct. 2026
known as “Lula”)
Oct. 30, 2022
Chile
Sept. 18, 1810
BORIC, Gabriel
Nov. 21, 2021/
Nov. 2025/Dec.
Dec. 19, 2021
2025
Colombia
July 20, 1810
PETRO, Gustavo
May 29, 2022/
May 2026/June
June 19, 2022
2026
Ecuador
May 24, 1822
NOBOA, Daniel
Aug. 20,
Feb. 2025/Apr.
2023/Oct. 15,
2025
2023b
Paraguay
May 14, 1811
PEÑA, Santiago
Apr. 30, 2023
Apr. 2028
Peru
July 28, 1821
BOLUARTE, Dinac
Apr. 11, 2021/
Apr. 2026d
June 6, 2021
Uruguay
Aug. 25, 1825
LACALLE POU, Luis
Oct. 27, 2019/
Oct. 2024
Nov. 24, 2019
Venezuela
July 5, 1811
MADURO, Nicolás
May 20, 2018e
July 28, 2024
Source: Compiled by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
Notes: For information on Guyana and Suriname, see Table 3.
a. Elections were held on October 18, 2020 after the November 2019 results were annul ed, and then delayed
in March 2020 due to the spread of COVID-19. See CRS In Focus IF11325, Bolivia: An Overview, by Clare
Ribando Seelke.
b. On May 17, 2023, facing an imminent impeachment vote, President Guil ermo Lasso invoked constitutional
article 148, the so-called “crossed death” decree, dissolving congress and requiring snap general elections to
choose a president and a legislature to serve the remainder of the current terms of office until 2025.
Fol owing elections in which no candidate won 50% of the vote, a run-off election was held between the top
two candidates on October 15, 2023. Daniel Naboa won with 51.83% of the vote. President Noboa’s
inauguration took place November 23, 2023, and Ecuador’s new National Assembly was seated on
November 17. For additional information, see CRS In Focus IF11218, Ecuador: Country Overview and U.S.
Relations
, by June S. Beittel and Ramon Miro.
c. On December 7, 2022, Pedro Castil o attempted to dissolve congress, create a government of exception,
and rule by decree. That same day, the Peruvian Congress impeached Castil o, who was arrested shortly
afterwards. Also on December 7, Vice-President Dina Boluarte was sworn in as president.
d. Despite proposals by President Dina Boluarte and members of the legislature to hold early general elections
in late 2023 or early 2024 in response to the impeachment and removal of former President Pedro Castil o,
legislators failed to approve early elections in two successive congressional sessions as required by the
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constitution. Consequently, the electoral calendar remains unchanged, with the next general elections
scheduled for April 2026. See Andreas Moncada, “Why Dina Boluarte Could Make it to 2026,” Americas
Quarterly
, April 10, 2023, at https://americasquarterly.org/article/why-dina-boluarte-could-make-it-to-2026/.
e. In a controversial move, Venezuela’s presidential election was moved earlier 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 il egitimate, see CRS In Focus IF10230, Venezuela:
Political Crisis and U.S. Policy
, by Clare Ribando Seelke.
Table 2. Mexico and Central America: Heads of Government and Election Schedules
Last
Independence
Head of
Election/
Next
Country
Date
Government
Runoff
Election/Runoff
Mexico
Sept. 16, 1810
LÓPEZ OBRADOR, Andrés Manuel
July 1, 2018
June 2, 2024
Costa Rica
Sept. 15, 1821
CHAVES, Rodrigo
Feb. 6, 2022/
Feb. 2026/Apr.
Apr. 3, 2022
2026
El Salvador
Sept. 15, 1821
BUKELE, Nayib
Feb. 4, 2024a
2029
Guatemala
Sept. 15, 1821
ARÉVALO, Bernardo
June 25,
by 2027
2023/Aug. 20,
2023
Honduras
Sept. 15, 1821
CASTRO, Xiomara
Nov. 28, 2021
Nov. 2025
Nicaragua
Sept. 15, 1821
ORTEGA, Daniel
Nov. 7, 2021b
Nov. 2026
Panama
Nov. 3, 1903
CORTIZO, Laurentino
May 5, 2019
May 2024
Source: Compiled by CRS.
Notes: For information on Belize, see Table 3.
a. Although Nayib Bukele, the incumbent, was reelected February 4, 2024, the constitutionality of his
reelection has been questioned by analysts and civil society leaders. Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas party, which
controls the country’s legislature, replaced the Salvadoran constitutional court with sympathetic judges,
who decided that Bukele could run for reelection as an incumbent, despite a constitutional ban on
reelection. See CRS Report R47083, El Salvador: Background and U.S. Relations, by Clare Ribando Seelke.
b. Prior to the elections, the Ortega government arrested eight people who sought to challenge Ortega in the
elections and dozens of political and civil society leaders. Much of the international community, including the
United States, rejected the elections; the Organization of American States declared that the elections “were
not free, fair or transparent and have not democratic legitimacy.” See U.S. Mission to the Organization of
American States, “OAS General Assembly Condemns the Ortega-Muril o Regime in Nicaragua,” November
12, 2021, at https://usoas.usmission.gov/oas-general-assembly-condemns-the-ortega-muril o-regime-in-
nicaragua/. See also CRS Report R46860, Nicaragua in Brief: Political Developments and U.S. Policy, by Maureen
Taft-Morales (for further information, congressional clients may contact Karla Rios) and CRS In Focus
IF12247, Nicaragua, by Karla I. Rios.
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Table 3. Caribbean: Heads of Government and Election Schedules
Last
Next
Independence
Head of
Election/
Election/
Country
Date
Government
Runoff
Runoff
Antigua and Barbuda
Nov. 1, 1981
BROWNE, Gaston
Jan. 18, 2023
by July 2028
Bahamas
July 10, 1973
DAVIS, Philip
Sept. 16, 2021
by Sept. 2026
Barbados
Nov. 30, 1966
MOTTLEY, Mia
Jan. 19, 2022
by Jan. 2027
Belize
Sept. 21, 1981
BRICEÑO, Johnny
Nov. 11, 2020
by 2025
Cubaa
May 20, 1902
DÍAZ-CANEL, Miguel
Apr. 19, 2023
2028
Dominica
Nov. 3, 1978
SKERRIT, Roosevelt
Dec. 6, 2022b
by Mar. 2028
Dominican Republic
Feb. 27, 1844
ABINADER, Luis
July 5, 2020
May 2024
Grenada
Feb. 7, 1974
MITCHELL, Dickon
June 23, 2022c
by June 2027
Guyana
May 26, 1966
ALI, Irfaan
Mar. 2, 2020d
by 2025
Haiti
Jan. 1, 1804
HENRY, Ariele
Nov. 20, 2016g
Postponed
indefinitelyh
Jamaica
Aug. 6, 1962
HOLNESS, Andrew
Sept. 3, 2020
by 2025
St. Kitts and Nevis
Sept. 19, 1983
DREW, Terrance
Aug. 5, 2022
by 2027
St. Lucia
Feb. 22, 1979
PIERRE, Philip
July 26, 2021
by 2026
St. Vincent and the
Oct. 27, 1979
GONSALVES, Ralph E.
Nov. 5, 2020
by 2025
Grenadines
Suriname
Nov. 25, 1975
SANTOKHI,
May 25, 2020
May 2025
Chandrikapersad
Trinidad and Tobago
Aug. 31, 1962
ROWLEY, Keith
Aug. 10, 2020
by 2025
Source: Compiled by CRS.
Notes: Although Belize is located in Central America and Guyana and Suriname are located in South America,
all three are members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
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 2023, Cuba’s legislature selected Miguel Diaz-Canel for another five-
year term. Diaz-Canel has served as president of the republic since Cuba’s legislature appointed him in
October 2019. See Andrea Rodriguez, “Cuba’s parliament ratifies President Díaz-Canel for new term,”
Associated Press, April 19, 2023.
b. In November 2022, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit called a snap election that was held on December 6,
2022, ahead of elections constitutionally due by March 2025.
c. In May 2022, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell called a snap election held on June 23, 2022, ahead of elections
constitutionally due in March 2023.
d. Irfaan Ali was sworn into office on August 2, 2020, five months after elections were held on March 2, 2020.
Allegations of fraud and vote tampering delayed the election results as supporters of the ruling government
led by President David Granger pursued legal challenges. See CRS In Focus IF11381, Guyana: An Overview, by
Karla I. Rios.
e. President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated on July 7, 2021. Haitian Acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph was
in charge in the immediate aftermath. Moïse had named Ariel Henry as prime minister, but not sworn him in
the day before his death. Henry became de facto prime minister on July 20, 2021. Under the Haitian
Constitution, either the Council of Ministers under the Prime Minister should govern or, in the last year of
a presidential term, the legislature should elect a provisional president. There has been no functioning
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Latin America and the Caribbean: Fact Sheet on Leaders and Elections

f.
legislature since January 2020 and there are no remaining elected officials. See CRS Report R47394, Haiti:
Recent Developments and U.S. Policy
, by Karla I. Rios and Clare Ribando Seelke. See also CRS In Focus
IF12182, Haiti: Political Conflict and U.S. Policy Overview, by Clare Ribando Seelke and Maureen Taft-Morales.
g. Haiti held controversial national elections on October 25, 2015. After postponing runoff elections several
times, the Provisional Electoral Council announced new presidential elections would take place instead in
October 2016; these were delayed for a month due to Hurricane Matthew.
h. On January 13, 2020, most of the national legislature’s terms expired without the body having passed an
elections law to elect new legislators. From that date until his death, President Moïse ruled by decree.
Moïse appointed a new Provisional Electoral Council by decree, which announced a constitutional
referendum that could change electoral laws, and parliamentary and presidential elections. The moves were
arguably unconstitutional. In September 2021, de facto Prime Minister Henry dissolved the Provisional
Electoral Council and has since said he also plans to hold a constitutional referendum and elections soon
after. Elections were repeatedly postponed and no date has been set. Henry has said he wil remain in office
until new elections are held. Civil society and political coalitions are calling for an interim government to
take his place, in part because they say his term expired when Moïse’s should have, on February 7, 2022.



Author Information

Carla Y. Davis-Castro
Travis A. Ferrell
Senior Research Librarian
Research Librarian





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Congressional Research Service
98-684 · VERSION 182 · UPDATED
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