Four leaders (Guillermo Lasso, Pedro Castillo, Xiomara Castro and Gabriel Boric) won presidential elections the year that has just passed.
In 2021, several presidential elections cause changes in the ideological and political trend in the region.
Among those is Peru, where after several decades the left wins power on June 6 after the victory of Pedro Castillo, a union teacher who despite fears defeated Keiko Fujimori, who also generates great rejection. However, the new government has faced opposition from Congress from the beginning, a dynamic that has complicated political stability in the country in recent years.
Meanwhile, in Nicaragua on November 7 there were elections that were not recognized by a large part of the international community for the actions that the regime of Daniel Ortega committed against the opposition, all critical candidates being detained and their parties disqualified. The situation in Nicaragua is currently one of the most controversial in the region. The country has even proposed leaving the OAS.
In Honduras the left also displaces the right in the presidential election of November 28, when Xiomara Castro, wife of the ousted former president Manuel Zelaya, comes to power. She has promised to reach agreements in a country that has experienced instability since the 2009 coup and whose political leadership has been involved in cases of corruption and drug trafficking, including the still president Juan O. Hernández.
In Chile, on December 19 Gabriel Boric obtains the victory against José Antonio Kast, leaving the country on the left of the ideological spectrum of the region.
But in addition to presidential there are also legislative and other elections that marked the events of the region.
Precisely in Chile, on May 15 and 16, the members of the Constituent Convention are chosen, who are currently drafting a draft Constitution and in which the tendency to the left has a majority. But in the November 21 elections, a Congress was elected almost equally ideologically divided.
At the beginning of the year, on February 28, in El Salvador a legislative election gave an overwhelming majority to President Nayib Bukele, who is criticized for actions described as authoritarian and that he defends stating that his country needs profound changes.
On November 14 in Argentina there are also legislative elections and the government of Alberto Fernández loses its majority in Congress. The country is experiencing a highly polarized climate and there is talk of a “crack” in society, between those who support Fernández and Vice President Cristina Fernández, and those who are against them due to the economic crisis that the country is experiencing, aggravated by the pandemic . The Executive blames the situation on former President Mauricio Macri.
While in Venezuela on November 21 elections are held for governors and mayors, in which the opposition participates again after several years, with the idea of testing, with international observation, if elections can be held in the country under the regime of Nicolás Maduro. The European Union sees progress, but says that the necessary conditions for free elections were still not met.
This is also part of the results of the negotiations between the regime and the opposition in Mexico, where President Andrés López Obrador has become a figure on the left that is gaining supporters and critics in the region. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
