Compiled From The Economist
News Americas, MIAMI, Fl, Fri. Nov. 17, 2017: Election season is coming up in Latin America over the next year and voters in several nations will go to the polls to elect a new government in these nations. Here are the 8 Latin American nations going to the polls between Nov. 19, 2017 and across 2018 according to the latest compilation from the Economist:
Chile
Chilean voters will go to the polls on November 19th 2017 to vote in the first-round of the presidential election. The second-round is set for December 17t. The race pitsa businessman and former president (2010-14), Sebastián Piñera, from the centre-right Chile Vamos coalition, against a plethora of candidates on the left and centre-left including two TV journalists-turned politicians: Alejandro Guillier, who has the backing of the majority of the ruling centre-left Nueva Mayoria coalition, and Beatriz Sánchez, who will represent the newly formed left-wing Frente Amplio coalition.
Honduras
Hondurans will vote in Presidential and legislative election on November 26th 2017. the incumbent president, Juan Orlando Hernández of the centre-right Partido Nacional (PN), seems on the path to re-election but three opposition parties have formed an electoral alliance, the Alianza Opositora contra la Dictadura, to try to challenge Hernández in the election with Salvador Nasralla, a TV presenter and political newcomer, as the lead candidate.
Cuba
Cuba will begin an election process also on November 26th 2017 that will culminate in the handover of power from Raúl Castro to his successor in February 2018. This will be the first time in almost 60 years that Cuba will not be ruled by a member of the Castro family. In November 2017 Cubans will go to the polls to elect municipal representatives. Municipal elections are the only direct elections in Cuba, but they begin the process that ultimately culminates in the election of the 612 members of the National Assembly; the National Assembly in turn elects the president. The presidential handover is expected to occur next February. The most likely successor to Raúl Castro is his first vice president, Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Costa Rica
Costa Ricans will vote on February 4th 2018 in presidential and legislative elections. A second-round presidential election is set for April 1, 2018. Antonio Álvarez of the centrist Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) looks set to lead in the first round but the ruling Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) or the centre-right Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) stands a good chance of taking the presidency.
Colombia
Colombians will vote on March 11th 2018 in legislative elections and May 27th in the first round of their presidential election. The second round is set for June 17th. Sergio Fajardo, the centre-left former mayor of Medellín is in a centre-left electoral alliance called Coalición Colombia. The the coalition is likely to come up against Germán Vargas Lleras, the centre-right former vice president to the current president, Juan Manuel Santos, who has also launched a new political movement.
Paraguay
Paraguay voters will vote on April 22nd 2018 in presidential and legislative elections. Partido Colorado (PC) and an opposition alliance composed of the centre-left Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico (PLRA) and the left-wing Frente Guasú (FG) are contesting the April 2018 elections. The campaign will focus on the legacy of the president, Horacio Cartes, whose push to modernise the public sector and the country’s infrastructure while seeking foreign investment and finance has proven controversial within the PC and beyond.
Mexico
Mexicans will vote on July 1st 2018 in presidential and legislative elections. Enrique Peña Nieto’s disappointing presidency has been a breeding ground for anti-establishment sentiment. The current front-runner in the race isAndrés Manuel López Obrador, the populist candidate of the leftist Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Morena). A one-time mayor of Mexico City, López Obrador will be running for the third time in 2018. A stronger challenge to Mr López Obrador will come from Margarita Zavala, a former first lady who left the centre-right Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) in October to run as an independent.
Brazil
Brazilians will vote on October 7th 2018 in legislative and presidential elections. A second-round presidential voting is set for October 28th.The outlook for Brazil’s October 2018 polls is unusually uncertain. Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing politician and former army officer is popular with Evangelical Christian groups (a growing political force), and ironically, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a former president (2003-10) of the left-wing Partido dos Trabalhadores, leads in the polls, despite the fact that he has been convicted of corruption and may well be barred from standing if his appeal fails. Whoever prevails will inherit the country’s shaky public finances and will need to steer unpopular pension reforms and other fiscal adjustments through a fragmented Congress to stop the public debt reaching 100% of GDP and triggering a debt crisis.
