On January 19, 2020, the Movimiento al Socialismo or MAS, the party of former Bolivian President Evo Morales, chose Luis Arce, the former Minister of Economy, as its candidate for president in the upcoming election. Ex-Chancellor David Choquehuanca will be his running mate. The new election will be held because of the debacle that occurred

On January 14, 2020, Alejandro Giammattei Falla took the oath of office as Guatemala’s new president, replacing outgoing President Jimmy Morales. While many Guatemalans are not optimistic about the country’s probable trajectory under Giammattei, they overwhelmingly rejoiced at the end of Morales’ administration, which most observers say was racked by corruption, cronyism, sexual misconduct, cynicism,

Venezuela’s opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, was sworn in for another term as president of Venezuela’s unicameral legislature, the Asamblea Nacional or AN, on January 7, 2020, after a rancorous standoff with Venezuelan military personnel and police officers who initially prevented him from entering the building. In his absence, a plurality, but reportedly not a quorum,

On December 10, 2019, Alberto Fernández assumed the office of President of Argentina. He united the various factions of Peronismo in the Frente de Todos coalition, and alongside his Vice President, former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, replaced President Mauricio Macri, the first non-Peronista president who managed to complete a term in office in almost

Beginning on November 21, 2019, Colombia was shaken by a series of strikes, protests, and clashes between demonstrators and police, following similar protest movements in Ecuador, Chile, and Bolivia in the last few months. As in those cases, the Colombian episode generated attention throughout Latin America. The first general strike, known as “21N,” was initially

On November 11, 2019, Evo Morales abruptly resigned as president of Bolivia, and in a climate of violence and chaos, made his way to exile in Mexico. Allies of his government immediately argued that his exit from power, after he lost the confidence of the military, was a coup. Opposition leaders claimed that he was

Protests that began in Chile on October 18, 2019, with student rage over an increase in metro fares, have continued to expand, driven by long-brewing resentment over inequality in one of Latin America’s most economically prosperous societies, as well as anger over brutal and ham-handed government responses to the protests. The demonstrations in the streets

On October 27, 2019, the Peronista/ “Kirchnerista” candidate for president and leader of the Frente de Todos coalition, Alberto Fernández, lived up to the promise of his victory in the August primary and defeated President Mauricio Macri with a sufficient percentage of the vote to dispense with the need for a second round. Now he

On October 20, 2019, Bolivia held its general elections, including the presidential contest. According to the Bolivian Constitution, the winner in the first round must obtain 50% plus one of the valid votes, or 40% of the votes, with a margin of at least 10 percentage points over the second place candidate. While President Evo

From October 4 to October 13, 2019, indigenous groups from communities in the Amazon and the Andes led demonstrations demanding that Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno reinstate fuel subsidies he had slashed at the behest of the International Monetary Fund. They were joined by unionized workers and students in a series of major protests that often