Latin America’s Electoral Year 2021
Written by Secretary General of UPLA Nicolas Figari.
This year presents a very intense electoral calendar for Latin America, which is set to begin with the presidential, legislative, and parliamentary elections in Ecuador. On February 7th, more than thirteen million Ecuadorians are entitled to vote to elect the next President and Vice President of the country for the 2021-2025 period (for a four-year term). On the same date, the members of the National Assembly, which is unicameral and is made up of 137 assembly members, will also be elected. Five parliamentarians for the Andes Region are also elected. For the Presidential race, Guillermo Lasso, of the UPLA member party CREO, is campaigning across the country and has good chances of becoming the new President.
On February 28th, national and municipal legislative elections will be held in El Salvador, where 84 deputies to the Legislative Assembly will be elected, along with members of the Municipal Councils (mayor, trustee, and councillors) of the country’s 262 municipalities. This election includes the capital city of San Salvador, where Ernesto Muyshondt, from ARENA, will face reelection.
On March 7th, Bolivia will hold its elections of governors (9 departments), mayors and other local authorities, which will be central to define the political counterweight that the national government of Luis Arce and the future leadership that the opposition will have.
On April 11th, Chile will also have a very important election, in which the Regional Governors must be elected for the first time, together with the Regional Councillors, the Mayors and Municipal Councillors, and, finally, the Constituents who will be responsible for reforming the Constitution.
That same day, April 11th, Peru will hold its national presidential and legislative election, which presents the challenge of achieving the formation of a stable executive and legislative power for the next five years.
In Paraguay, internal party elections will be held on June 25th to select candidates for municipal elections, who will then be elected through general municipal elections on October 10th.
In Argentina, mid-term national legislative elections will be held on October 24th, in which half of the Chamber of Deputies and a third of the Senate will be renewed.
In Chile, the presidential election for the 2022-2026 period (for a four-year term) will be held on November 21st, in conjunction with the elections for deputies and senators. This election will be crucial for our member parties in Chile to continue to lead for another term.
In Honduras, on November 28th, general elections will be held in which the holders of popularly elected positions will be renewed for the 2022 – 2026 period. The National Party, our member, expects to be reelected for a new term in government.
Latin America is facing a very interesting electoral year. It is yet to be seen how the health and economic issues caused by Covid-19 will influence electoral results in each country.